Eighteenth little lie ♰ This is the story of the road that goes to my house

[beingdifferent]

Has anyone been seeing unusual things? More unusual than is customary here, of course. [She turns the communicator to the mirror hanging on her wall – it’s shattered, and the reflection catches her in bizarre images. Some of the shards are much too broad, extending the shape of her face far outward. Others shrink her reflection, and a few of the larger pieces curve and warp the lines of her face, neck, and shoulders.] This does look strange to the rest of you, does it not? It’s never done that before.

[Private to Jean]
May I… [The ease with which she can talk to Ned is, while a tiny step forward, still heartening, and gives her the bravery to be honest in her request.] May I speak with you? In your professional role?

[Garden spam]
[Picking flowers from any of the beds or pots in the garden is a forbidden act. It is, Esther notes, quite a shame; the blooms are vivid and bright, quite healthy despite the odd environment they grow in, and she appreciates a nice bouquet of cut flowers. She has no intention of angering any wandering horticulturist, though, and keeps herself to the flowers growing out of the lawn.

Buttercups, daisies, dandelions – nothing exotic or beautiful, but she still harvests a great deal of them and holds them in a fold of her skirt when she settles on the grass. They won’t make a bouquet, but she can still use them to adorn her cabin, and she begins, fastidiously, weaving them into a chain.]

Comments

[beingdifferent]

Will I distract you?

Are you sure? That's circus music.

[to_dust]

Yes-- that high pitched part sort of coming down was definitely what I heard.

I'll tell you if I need more quiet-- it should be fine.

[And he starts to focus, to just -- listen, not too hard, trying to do anything hard always makes it more difficult. He starts to pick up the colours of the floor, as if his hindbrain thinks hiding from the sound will make it come out.]

[beingdifferent]

[As he said it looks like nothing so much as sitting on the floor and thinking. Wary of disturbing him, Esther crosses her arms and stands quietly by the door, wondering what he's discovering.]

[to_dust]

[Seconds stretch into minutes. C'rizz lets his mind wander and his ears pick up everything-- the rustle of Esther's slight movements, the moving and murmuring of people out in the hall... footsteps above, a muffled conversation below.

Almost in a trance, he listens.

And then after about ten minutes he cracks one yellow eye, sheepishly. He's got nothing.]

...Well, the good news is that your room doesn't have ghostly laughter in it.

[beingdifferent]

[Esther exhales loudly, no longer worried about the sound of her breath.]

That's a relief. Did you notice anything else?

[to_dust]

Nothing-- not music or laughter or odd smells or anything people have been talking about. The more I listened, the less there was.

It's almost as if it doesn't want to be found.

[beingdifferent]

It's trying to frighten us.

Look in the mirror. It shows itself there.

[to_dust]

[C'rizz gets to his feet and peers into the glass, trying to track down the distortions-- they're there, at the corners of his vision, but when he looks at them straight on it's only plain shattered glass.]

I don't much care for things trying to control me through fear. It's rather irritating. [There's an unusually dark edge to that mild statement.]

I'm sorry I couldn't find anything. Do you feel safe, here? If you want somewhere else to stay until it stops... well, my room's not much, but it hasn't actually got any mirrors.

[beingdifferent]

[Esther stands by with her arms crossed over her chest, scowling at the mirror while C'rizz looks into it. When he turns to face her she worries her lip between her teeth.]

I am not fond of it either. [There's a story there, one she'll ask about when a more comfortable opportunity comes along.]

If you say it isn't dangerous, I believe you. You don't believe there's any risk here? We could take the mirror down. [It isn't the mirror that bothers her as much as spending the night in an adult male's room. C'rizz is not much like her at all, but the last time that happened--well.]

[to_dust]

No, I don't think there is. [He reaches out to gingerly lift it down-- he's strong, but just plucking it off the wall is a recipe for shards of glass everywhere.] We can wrap this in a bit of cloth, or a towel or something, put it in the closet or under the bed, and it will be as if nothing's wrong.

[beingdifferent]

[Nodding, Esther opens an only lightly damaged dresser drawer and pulls a spare sheet from it, holding out the sides to wrap the mirror.] Let's hope so.

[to_dust]

[Together, they wrap it, and C'rizz slides it carefully under the bed.]

I'm sorry to have put you out. I'll see you later-- take care, will you, Esther?

[beingdifferent]

It's quite all right. I appreciate you coming to check on this.