Safe haven.
Purposefully, when she had chosen a space to call her own--or
theirs, although no, no, she wouldn't think of that now and no--she had chosen a house not surrounded by potentially pesky neighbors, nor by unfeeling concrete buildings. Oh, no. Her house, she had decided the moment she stepped from the door of her childhood home, would be in a place surrounded by silence...trees and rocks and maybe a nice little brook in which to dip her toes when the weather got hot, or an ocean, or a mountain, or...the possibilities were endless. In the end, the little (or not-so-little, she thought, remembering the little three-room apartment she'd taken roost in while she saved up enough money to make the first payment toward this house...although in the end, her parents and sister had helped her out, money-wise.) house that she (they) had found, surrounded by field and forest, seemed like heaven to her. And later...after...
..well, the solitude was just what she needed.
Now, arms full of brown paper bags full of the items crucial to her survival --namely bread, pasta, milk, jasmine tea, eggs, peanut butter, honey, soap, shampoo, and other such goods-- and the bag holding the oil and burner she'd bought on a whim (oh, alright then...perhaps it was to avoid the potential disapproval of the shopkeeper for her wandering around the store and then not purchasing anything. But either way, the scent was pleasant, so there was no harm done by buying it.), Autumn stumbled and kicked her way in the front door, toeing off her shoes and spitting her keys (which she'd been holding in her teeth, not having a spare hand) onto the table by the door. After edging through the semi-dark house to the kitchen and stowing the bags in the fridge with the promise to herself that she'd put everything properly away
later, she then crept to the couch that she'd transformed into her Nest. Within the Nest were blankets and pillows of all size and material, half-read and many-bookmarked books, pencils, her ipod, and other odds and ends..defenses against an empty house. With the ease of long practice, she slipped beneath the top-blanket...only to notice that she still clutched the bag from the candle-shop.
Oh.
With a sigh, she forced herself up once more, and made her way to the window, which showed a quickly darkening landscape. She shivered, rubbed her arms for a moment, and then began to set up the little burner with the scent she'd purchased..akuma, had it been? Yes, that was it. Akuma. She made a mental note to check what akuma actually
was, later, but for now just put it into the burner, which she set on the windowsill. Twisting the wick absently as she dug in her messenger-bag/purse for matches, she hummed and mumbled under her breath, concentrating, until...aha! There. There
were matches in her bag. Victorious, she allowed herself a single gleeful wiggle, and then struck a match and touched it to the wick. It took several minutes to light, and she got the distinct impression that it was mocking her...spiteful thing. But then, this was an
oil burner, not something that would try and spite her..what on earth was she thinking? Ah, there- lit. Sending it one more wary look, Autumn blew out the match and set it beside the burner, and then all but dove for her couch: safe, safe, safe.
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