dix-huit. [ RL with Kamina ]

[piercethecharts]

[ She was losing control. She could feel herself losing it, that was the worst part, to know what was happening. That tight control she always had over herself-- not in the sense that she held back or hid things any more than a girl hides things, but in the sense that she always had a firm handle on who she was, where she was going, and how she was getting there-- that control had started crumbling in the taxi. She felt like she'd left pieces of it all over the library, overhearing what she had. As long as they didn't tell anyone, it would be fine. It would all be fine.

But she didn't feel fine, and she didn't feel like it would be fine. It was only half the illness; she felt that familiar lightheadedness and chills that came and went but always came again. But it was the desperation and hurt that kept her wandering the streets; desperation for what, she didn't know. (What the hurt was about, she knew all too well; Grace's words kept ringing in her ears.)

She'd never noticed her face on every screen. It had been part of the background, the general wallpaper of the world. But now everything was green and orange, and she didn't resent Ranka her success except she did, and she hated herself for it.

"Please come to my revenge live! This time, it's definitely happening!"

Sheryl didn't even have the self-possession to pull herself up onto the curb; she sank down to her knees on the street, too feverish and out of it now to even know if she was sobbing, or if she was just hallucinating in the rain. ]

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[aburningspirit.livejournal.com]

[kamina had been to the hospital earlier that afternoon, mildly concerned when the nurses had mentioned that she'd looked upset the last time they'd seen sheryl. the concern cranked up to a mild fury when they told him that not only could they not find her, she must have walked right out under their noses. he'd given the doctors and nurses several pieces of his mind that earned a lifetime ban from the hospital or so the security guard had yelled after him, but he hadn't bothered to hear the rest.

she was somewhere on this huge ship, alone and sick and in the pouring rain and alone.

it took an hour or two and incredible luck, but jogging through the shopping district on a hunch paid off. there she was--and it broke his heart. crouching down in front of her, kamina was spooked at how empty her eyes were. no light, no life, no nothing. like someone had left her body but taken her spirit.]

Sheryl?

[ March 1 ]

[piercethecharts]

[ SHERYL used BE DOMESTIC! It's super effective!

That is to say that she's easily bored, no matter her mental state; since she had been taken in by Grace, her days had always been jam-packed, just as she liked them. She'd spent the week learning chess (before losing half the pieces behind the couch), buying a few outfits and necessities to replace the ones she wasn't going back to the hotel for, and ignoring the television and magazines. She'd bought a new phone, but hadn't activated it yet; it still sat in its packaging on the kitchen counter. She still didn't much want to talk to anyone; that post had been an exception, but she hated keeping up what she didn't feel. She was calmer, having settled into a routine here, but she wasn't better.

The domestic part came in after about two days of takeout. It was Kamina-style takeout, which meant that it was greasy, spicy, and horribly unhealthy. So she'd started buying groceries and cooking herself. Contrary to spoiled-idol expectations, she could cook fine (it was laundry, dusting, sweeping, washing dishes, organizing, and vacuuming that she fell down on); she wasn't interested enough in it to try and make anything too involved, so nearly everything turned out well.

Tonight, Kamina's getting a pasta dish; she's used enough to his manner of eating that she's dished his serving into the biggest bowl in the apartment ]