She couldn't see anything on her right, and where her eye was, there was instead a searing pain. She was in shock, feeling cold wash over her in waves, seeing in her mind again and again the blown remains of her best friend. This couldn't be happening. This simply couldn't be happening.
'We need to remove your eye,' said the nurse beside her. She was a pretty, young, light-haired girl, and Thorbjorg knew that this English girl was as much a victim as the rest of them. She didn't care. She didn't have an eye. If she had an eye, she'd be able to see out of it. She couldn't have an eye. How would they remove something she didn't have? 'We're going to put you under for it, okay? The shard in there is at least an inch long. It's a miracle it didn't pierce your brain.'
'I wouldn't mind if it did,' Thorbjorg spoke up hoarsely. 'At least then I wouldn't have to return home an empty-handed one-eyed lone twin.'
Spirit tried not to dwell on the past. But her brothers deserved remembrance. She didn't hear what Cyber said next, but she got the general gist that it was about stars again. It wasn't like Cyber to be so indirect, to skirt around something. Surely, she didn't come track her down to talk about stars.
The Icelander shifted slightly so that she could glance at Cy out of the corner of her left eye, and confirm that no knife or gun was being held to her. "I'm sorry about getting irritated with you," Spirit sighed and relented. "Normally, I'd have taken your suggestion into consideration. It's just... It's just a bad day."
She tried not to look at the other girl - she didn't want Cyber to see her face. Not now, not when she was so vulnerable. Honestly, she didn't want Cyber to be there, sitting with her, at all. Especially since the girl definitely knew something.
"Go on, then. I can tell you know something," she sniffed and furiously wiped her eye to quell any tears that may have begun to form. "It's not a secret that I unwillfully got him killed."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 2/15/2019 at 9:41 PM
Post #372
There was certainly no doubt that Cyber was a computer geek, though she preferred the term "hacker" if she was being honest. She spent a good portion of her life sitting in front of a computer, but she was not a stranger to interacting with other people besides her family. Her social life was active, though it mostly involved gatherings at hipster internet cafes and things like that. She had a few friends, but no one super close, and she'd had off and on relationships.
In short, Cyber could and did socialize on a relatively normal level...it just maybe wasn't her best feature.
"Well, that's a total load of cow dung, ain't it?" she said, her voice casual as she turned her yellow-green eyes towards Spirit, her eyebrow in its signature arch, "Mourning ya twin's death is one thing, gorgeous, but blaming yourself for his death is another. My Nana always said it wasn't 'bout rememberin' your loved ones are gone but 'bout celebratin' the life they had and the memories they gived us." She wrinkled her nose and reached up to throw some of her dreads over her shoulder.
For a moment, Cyber just stared up at the stars, thinking about what she'd just said. That was always the trouble with her and her big mouth, instead of thinking about her choice of words before she spoke, she usually had to think about them after the fact. This thing with Spirit and her twin was something she couldn't possibly understand. She had lost her father, but she'd never even met him before he died. She could never understand the blonde woman's pain, and it was disrespectful to think she could.
"Look, I'm sorry," she added quickly, turning to look directly at Spirit, reaching out a hand to lay it on hers, "I can't unnerstand what your goin' through, and I shouldn'ta stepped in 'tween you and Teddy earlier. I just want to help ya..." She gave Spirit's hand a light squeeze and smiled softly at her.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
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Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 2/15/2019 at 11:37 PM
Post #373
Spirit had become a rather independent person. After she lost her twin, she had to adjust her lifestyle, especially with her parents and brothers blaming her for Runar's death. She had had to learn how to survive without her other half, and four short years later, she was kidnapped and taken to the island. A myriad of circumstances had isolated her, and she had become so closed off. She had never shown her true self to anyone since she had lost the most important thing she had - her best friend.
So why did she now want to confess everything to Cyber?
She looked at the caramel-skinned girl, her head fully turned so she could get a good look at her out of her left eye. She felt the threat of tears again but told herself she wouldn't cry in front of anyone, so she blinked them back. "I don't..." she tried to fight it, this sudden urge to reveal her one vulnerability to this random girl she had picked up for the Resistance just a couple weeks ago. But she knew Cyber wasn't random. Something told her that Cyber was more than the other recruits - she was special. Spirit just didn't know in what way.
Swallowing hard, Spirit's gaze traveled down, and she became fixated on a rock. She couldn't stop the flow of words anymore; she couldn't stop the pain. She could never stop the pain. Cyber was right. She had to remember him. She had to celebrate him.
"I grew up an only girl, in a family with five brothers," she revealed, then met Cyber's eyes again. "Naturally, I was a target for teasing. Hell, I teased back. I learned to defend myself...thanks to Runar. He never once thought of me as weaker. He knew damn well that I could carry more eggs from the henhouse than any of our brothers. We... We were twins. And twins get in trouble a little bit," she couldn't help a small smile at the memory. "We were like two peas in a pod. Runar and I would prank our brothers, and sometimes we'd get extra chores for it, but we didn't care." Her smile grew a little more. She could do this. Cyber's advice...was working. "One time..." she began, but then couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up at the memory. "One time, our oldest brother Aron put a dead fish in Runar's bed. So... So on my next turn cleaning up the cows' stalls... Well, I stashed some of the waste in a bag..."
She couldn't help it. It was as if she was there again, plotting revenge with her other half, talking about everything they were gonna do together, how they were gonna take the world by storm and make a difference. She had tears glistening in her eye again, but she was laughing intermittently at her own tale.
"I was the lookout while Runar smeared it inside Aron's outfit he had set for the next day. The look on Aron's face..." she smiled broadly and shook her head a little. "I tell you, there's nothing like it. Runar and I, we could turn the world upside down if we wanted." She swallowed hard again, feeling the mirth flit away. "He was my other half. I'm not a poet... But isn't it funny, Cy? Isn't it so depressingly ironic? The moment I lost him was the moment I lost my eye. Now, I can't even see right - both literally and figuratively."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 2/16/2019 at 6:58 PM
Post #374
In truth, Cyber should have been a good listener. She spent most of her time not saying a word. Unfortunately, when she was at her computer she usually had headphones on to drown out background noises, and when she wasn't on her computer she had a hard time sitting still and focusing. She tried her best, but when she started fidgeting people usually assumed she wasn't paying attention, even though it was the only she could pay attention.
When Spirit began to talk, it was clear to Cyber that this was the first time the other woman had spoken this much about her family in a very long time. She was pleased that Spirit was opening up to her and she knew how important it was that she try to focus. Her eyes still on the other woman's face, she grabbed a few if her dreads in her hands and began to braid and unafraid them over and over. She hoped it was enough to keep her attention where it needed to be without offending Spirit.
It turned out that Cyber didn't need much help to listen to Spirit. The blonde's story was so full of love and emotion that she ended up staring, wide-eyed at her, her fingers frozen in the middle of plaiting. When it ended...
"That's beautiful," she said, her voice slightly hoarse, wiping at her own eyes which had become damp with tears, "But, Spirit, you gotta know this ain't how he'd want ya to live your life. Don't matter what happened or how, he was ya twin and he'd want you to be happy, right? 'Specially for the kiddies." She scooted closer to Spirit, so she could reach over and take her other hand.
"Lemme help ya...please."
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 2/16/2019 at 7:29 PM
Post #375
In truth, Spirit had become an outcast around her family. She hadn't spoken with Aron, Sindri, or Elvar in three years, ever since she got the kids and attacked her brothers for forcing her to change her pathetic lifestyle. She sometimes received phone calls from her parents, but she chose not to answer them, because she knew that it was a customary forced-to-put-on-the-front-of-caring-and-check-on-our-partially-disabled-daughter and not a genuine concern for her whereabouts or well-being. Her parents had been unsure about her taking the kids, but they couldn't do it at the time, either. She knew they didn't trust her with them. She just knew it.
She stared back at Cyber, confused as to why the girl looked on the verge of tears. She had just been mindlessly rambling, just getting it out. It wasn't like Cyber knew Runar at all. At what Cyber said, Spirit found her half-gaze traveling back to the ground, and she rubbed the back of her neck with one hand.
"I know. I know that. This isn't how I live...normally. It's only today that affects me like this. When the weight of the world starts crashing down, another year gone, and I realize again how alone I am."
Realizing what she had just admitted, Spirit quickly tried to backtrack. She lifted her head again and looked at Cyber with a smile, and gave the girl's and a squeeze. "But being alone does not require or guarantee being a distressed damsel. I don't need help." With that, she removed her hand from Cy's and turned her gaze forward, staring out into the quiet forest and listening to the soft chirping of crickets.
She jumped a little in surprise when her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket, only phasing for a fraction of a second, so short that the only way she knew she did phase was the small moment of soreness over her body which disappeared in just a second or two. She pulled out her phone and placed it on her lap, clenching her teeth as she read the contact name - 'Mamma'.
Looking away again with full intention of ignoring the call, Spirit gave a small sigh. "Why won't she get it into that thick head of hers?" she muttered, silently praying Cyber wouldn't comment on it.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 2/16/2019 at 9:08 PM
Post #376
The one thing Cyber understood, besides computers, was family. Despite her own unusual childhood, she had spent the latter half, the better half, surrounded by the crazy, loving, incredible relatives from her father's side. They weren't perfect, but that had taught her what having a family really meant. It was why she understood some of what Spirit was going through, and the rest she could certainly empathize with. Family was the best and worst part about life.
"But you're not alone, babe," she said, her voice soft as a lullaby, "You've got the kids, and you've got m-..." She trailed off suddenly when Spirit jumped and pulled out her phone.
The sound of the phone vibrating put Cyber on edge. Her fingers twitched to get her hands on it, to let it tell her things in the special language that technology had, that only she understood. She had left her phone back at headquarters, a mistake she rarely made, but she supposed had been too focused on finding Spirit. Whoever was calling, the blonde didn't seem to pleased, and she was also not showing any signs that she intended on picking it up.
"Are you going to answer that?" she asked, trying not to sound antsy, her fingers finding her dreads again so they didn't start randomly fidgeting in her lap, "You...you should answer that...please."
Creativity
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Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 2/16/2019 at 9:33 PM
Post #377
She didn't know what it was about Cyber. Why did the girl seem to have this control over her that no one else had? The worst part, perhaps, was that Spirit followed Cyber's commands with full willingness, and usually didn't regret it, she found. It was still strange, and new. No one else had this control over her. She didn't feel so willing to listen to anyone else as she did with Cyber. Maybe it was that sweet, silk-smooth voice... Or maybe, those beautiful eyes. Objectively beautiful eyes, of course. She couldn't tell what it was about Cyber, but... It was something. The girl was something.
Giving an irritated sigh, Spirit stood up and clicked to answer the call. Before her mother could get a word in edgewise, Spirit was determined to get the first. "Cmav vildr, Mamma? Eg vil ekki hlusta a gagnryni a lif mitt. Haettu av ringja i mig."
"Eg vil ekki gagnryna thig, Thorbjorg. Eg gervi thav aldrei. Af hverju geturvu ekki skiliv av?" Spirit couldn't help a scoff at her mother's blatant lies. "Eg vil av thu kemur aftur hingav. Eg vil av thu kemur heim. Thu getur komiv mev bornin."
"Cmav?" Spirit exclaimed, pacing around the small clearing. "Nr. Nr, Movir! Krakkarnir thekkja ekki einu sinni slensku. Eg get ekki faert thau thar."
Her mother snorted in annoyance on the other end. "Ja, thu getur. Their geta laert. Jafnvel sa eldri getur laert."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was her mother serious? Why was she contacting her today, of all days, about such an absurd proposition? "'Sa eldri'? Thu veist ekki einu sinni nafn hennar, Movir!"
Spirit clenched her jaw and glanced at Cyber to make sure the girl was okay and still there. When she spoke next, her voice was dangerously low. "Eg aetla ekki av fara. Thav er endanlegt." And with that, she hung up the phone and, in a fit, threw the device hard against the trunk of a tree.
She had been so preoccupied, with the emotions of the day, the conversation where she actually let this beautiful New Yorker in, and the call with her mom, she hadn't even noticed the clouds darkening until a loud crack of thunder sounded. Flinching violently, Spirit felt herself involuntarily phase once again. It's as if Runar was yelling at her, she reflected. Yelling at her for spatting with their mother again.
(Timeskip, one week)
Ziva was feeling... A lot of things. Tired. Confused. Worried. Sore. Anxious. But most of all... She was scared. Completely, consumingly, overwhelmingly, utterly scared. Scared of what she was going through. Scared of what it might mean. Scared because she wasn't completely stupid, and she knew what certain things could possibly lead to, if you were unlucky.
She was trying her best not to jump to conclusions. She didn't know yet. It could be the compound causing...certain things. Issues upon the female physiognomy. She definitely wasn't sick, so it was perfectly plausible that she could merely be adjusting to the atmosphere or whatever, right? It felt like the only thing she knew at all nowadays was the fact that she didn't know anything besides the fact that she was just... scared.
Part of her needed to know, but part of her didn't want to know. She figured that she didn't need to figure it out...yet... She could just... Explore the options. Explore the diagnoses, consider the symptoms and determine the cause. That's what doctors did.
...But she wasn't sick. She knew she wasn't sick. So this wasn't going to be an easy diagnosis.
She needed to talk to Flora. She wasn't certain why - in fact, she hadn't conversed with the older woman since the morning after she and Diego arrived. Speaking of Diego, she had found her friendship with him...straining. Just a little. And it was mostly her fault, she knew, but she was becoming more easily upset. More angry at him for little things. She knew it wasn't right, but she couldn't help it.
Flora was bent over some plants in a makeshift garden - Ziva had asked Reach where the other woman might be found, and there she was. Ziva felt shame wash over her all of a sudden, coupled with anxiety, and she almost turned back. But she needed to know something, if only calm herself down.
"Hello," she spoke up nervously, twisting her hands together in front of her uncomfortably. "I-I had a question, if you don't mind..."
She wanted to be polite, but she couldn't hold the question back; she needed to know the answer. "Is there...anything about the compound maybe, that...affects us? Like... As women, or whatever?"
Oh, God. She felt so uncomfortable talking about this... She had never had a real mother. She wasn't well-versed or well-prepared for any of this...
Edited By Creativity on 2/16/2019 at 10:06 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 2/16/2019 at 10:42 PM
Post #378
The day was beautiful. It was sunny and muggy we usual, but there were enough clouds gathering in the sky to give enough relief from blazing heat. However the clouds also indicated they were in for another torrential rainstorm, and while everyone was running around preparing the compound, Flora was busy in the garden. She needed to harvest and prune as much as she could before the weather turned. She did feel a little bad leaving Necro witb potato peeling duty...
"Oh, stop it," she said to herself as she picked more zucchinis and put them in her basket, "I'm sure they assigned someone else to help him and he should be able to stay out of trouble for a few hours without you...not that I care that he's without me!" Beside her, Pele made little chirruping noises and tilted her scaled head.
With a sigh, Flora shook her head and got back to work. She almost didn't notice Physic arriving until the young girl started to speak. She was able to catch what the girl said, but it was...an odd question. Something nagged at the back of her mind, something that had to do with all of this, but she dismissed it out of hand. The girl was clearly scared and nervous, and all she really wanted to do was comfort her. She just wasn't sure how to do that.
"Well," she said slowly, standing up and absently brushing some of the soil from her knees, "The humidity certainly doesn't do our hair any good if that's what you mean." She chuckled softly and smiled at the girl, hoping a little humor might ease her tension.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 2/16/2019 at 10:57 PM
Post #379
Flora wasn't understanding. Ziva's hands twisted together even more, occasionally moving up to rub at her arms before fiddling before her again. How could she make Flora understand what she had been going through? Hell, Ziva wasn't even really certain exactly what was going on, only that... She was scared.
But, if she thought about it... Maybe, you know, just maybe, it could all be so much simpler than she thought. She suddenly felt as if she needed the confirmation, she needed Flora's assurance. Flora ought to know, right? She seemed like the more homey type, knowing little remedies and stuff to cure ailments. She might even have something that could help her, Ziva thought to herself.
"No, I-I mean... It could just be stress, right?" she asked, reaching up briefly to push her glasses further up her nose nervously. Stress had to be an option. It had to be a diagnosis. She knew - she just knew that stress could certainly cause fatigue, and... and stress upon the body. She had read enough books; it had to be stress.
"Stress could cause it all - all the... the weird things, right...?" she questioned again, stepping forward a little bit. She tried, but was unable to keep the fear out of her voice. "St-stress can wreak havoc on the body. It can cause... tiredness and... And emotion swings. And...interruptions... Right?"
She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she would do - what she could do - if her worst fears about what was going on were true. All she knew was that she needed some reassurance... She needed what she had been cheated of as a child, and then altogether abandoned by. She needed guidance.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 2/17/2019 at 2:28 AM
Post #380
Growing up, Flora had gotten used to having no privacy. She was the middle child of seven, and the kids all shared a single bathroom. When you lived in such a large family under those conditions, you stopped feeling awkward about certain things after a while. There was always someone who needed an emergency roll of toilet paper, or someone else who had a bathroom emergency while you were taking a shower. She was the type of person who never got embarrassed, no matter the situation or conversation topic.
"What could be stress, hon?" she asked, her face pure concerned curiosity, "I'm not sure what you're talking about." She took a step forward at almost the same time as Physic did, but it was clear that the other girl wasn't really hearing her.
With a frown which pinched her brows together, Flora listened very carefully to everything Physic was rattling on about. The poor thing looked like she was about to literally explode from fear and anxiety. She was listing off symptoms that were concerning on their own, but were probabky all just caused by being brought to the island. Interruptions, though...what could the yiung girl possibly mean by interruptions? That didn't make any sense, or did it...
"Oh, sweet gods above," she muttered under her breath, placing a heart over her chest, and then she tried to choose her words very carefully, "Physic, honey...are you talking about...are you late?" She tried to put enough emphasis OK n that last word that the teenager would hopefully know what she meant. Her heart was beginning to pound in her chest as she stood there, dreading the answer.
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