10-18-2017, 09:14 PM
Jade sat at the edge of her cot, one of two makeshift beds jammed into the boxed-in cabin she and Rebecca were to stay in during their voyage over the ocean. The air was stiflingly warm and thick, but Rebecca seemed unbothered— she had dropped off to sleep nearly an hour ago and was snoring softly now, pillows and blankets puddling around her slumbering form in the greying light. Becquerel rested beside the door, his white-furred body still as stone but emanating an electrical hum that tickled over Jade’s skin, a steady reminder of the wolf-dog’s enduring vigil.
She slumped to the side and fell against her pillow. Weary after such an equally exciting and troubling day, Jade found her eyelids beginning to droop as if weighed down with lead. Her thoughts, bits and pieces of random feelings and vague worries, struggled to the surface like gnats pattering against a window pane. Jade wished her brain would stop tormenting her by keeping her awake like this. She just wanted to slip into blissful unconsciousness and sleep.
A subtle shift in her mood had her looking around at the room with a speculative eye. Walls the color of a stale cracker crowded close around her with a claustrophobic weight, painted a woozy shade of almost-green that made her feel all queasy in the pit of her stomach. Looking at that color, Jade could almost feel the ship swaying under the onslaught of crashing waves, the underside sighing and groaning noiselessly like the belly of a whale filled with saltwater.
She jerked, suddenly wide awake, as a creak came from the direction of the door. It was indistinct enough to almost go unnoticed, but Jade’s canine ears immediately latched onto it, her head twisting sharply toward the thin panel of wood and what lay on the other side. Spatial senses flaring, a faint glow appeared as a pulsing green outline took shape around Jade’s frame, her eyes staring with such intensity at the wall that it seemed she was not looking at it, but rather through it.
Her higher senses, the ones beyond just plain sight and hearing, gave her a barefaced schematic of the hallway. Every crack, every whorl of wood in the furnishings, every spear of metal nailed into the floorboards— all of it became startlingly clear as if put under a microscope’s lens. Yet, there was nothing out of the ordinary, despite what Jade’s thundering heartbeat seemed to be insisting upon. No cause for alarm, certainly, as not a single living (or indeed non-living) being that could have made the sound registered to her radar-like scrutiny.
Slowly, but still staring quite fixedly at the door, Jade sank back into the plush comfort of her pillow. She tried to compose herself, wondering if she should wake Rebecca— but, no, that wouldn’t do at all, the little girl needed her rest, or at least that was what Jade gathered most small children needed to stay healthy and happy. What would she even say after waking her? That she had heard an odd noise and felt spooked by it, like a toddler on Halloween night?
No, no… Jade wasn’t going to be a ninny about this. Bec hadn’t even so much as stirred: there simply couldn’t be anything to worry about. Feeling satisfied with her assessment of the situation, Jade folded her hands over her stomach and closed her eyes once more. Several moments passed in the dark, only the subtle shifting of the ocean and the warm air of the cabin as her company.
Crrrk-kk.
Jade’s eyes snapped open. That had definitely sounded like a floorboard creaking underfoot, and Jade would bet money that it was right outside their cabin, too. Her hands grasped at the bed covers, fingers clawing and curled into fists as she shoved to her feet and stalked over to the door. She yanked it open, perhaps with more force than was necessary.
The hall was silent, well-lit, and, most perplexingly of all, empty. Lightless shadows appeared to melt from the ceiling, coiling around the illumination cast by lamps stretching along the walls from left to right. Several cabins alongside theirs were occupied; Jade could feel the steady constriction and stretch of dozens of sets of lungs, and so she knew these other passengers to be fast asleep. None of them were the noise’s cause.
Abruptly, at least to Jade, the air became eerily still. The hairs on the back of her neck spiked upward, an icy cold sweat beading across her brow. After several moments of deliberation, Jade extended one foot out into the hall, eyes shifting cautiously around as if she were testing shark-infested waters, but nothing unpleasant happened. No hidden trap was sprung, though Jade’s stomach still roiled with nerves. Somehow, this was even worse than being outright attacked.
Shaking her head, Jade retreated inside her room and shut the door once more, sweaty and shaking hands fumbling a bit with the knob. She knew she was acting incredibly silly, getting all worked up over what was probably just a byproduct of the roiling waters below them, but some part of her brain found her concern to be completely rational and noteworthy. It frustrated her to no visible end.
Returning to her perched position on the side of her cot, Jade resolved to at least get a few hours of sleep that night.
She didn't sleep a wink.
When Rebecca woke in the early hours of the morning, it was to light steaming in through the narrow porthole on their wall and Jade bent over the pieces of what was clearly some kind of gun, eyes squinted in tired concentration. Struggling out from underneath the covers, Rebecca tried to nudge Bec with her bare toes to get him to move out of the way so she could stand properly on the floor. When that didn't work, she huffed in exasperation. At last, she elected to simply stand on him until he moved. It was a tactic which didn't have it's desired effect, however-- Becquerel continued to laze about on the floor, apparently totally unfazed by the Little Sister's full weight pressing into his rib-cage. His tail even whapped a few times against the floor: it shouldn't have been possible for a dog to be so darn ornery, but here they were.
Rubbing at her eyes with balled-up fists to clear them of sleep, the Little Sister tilted her head to the side in bewilderment, surprised to see Jade up and about so early.
“What’re you doing?” she asked. Her voice broke off into a loud yawn about halfway through, but Jade appeared to understand anyway as she paused in her tinkering. She looked up briefly from the electric green pieces scattered across her lap, mustering up a grin at Bec's antics despite the obviously exhausted pallor over her face.
“Just a little side-project,” said Jade, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. “Nothing very interesting, I'm afraid! But hey, we can go get breakfast whenever you’re ready. I hear they've got some pretty nice pumpkin pancakes somewhere on this boat.”
Her head still rang with doubt, but Rebecca whole-heartedly agreed that pancakes would be a great way to start to the day.
She slumped to the side and fell against her pillow. Weary after such an equally exciting and troubling day, Jade found her eyelids beginning to droop as if weighed down with lead. Her thoughts, bits and pieces of random feelings and vague worries, struggled to the surface like gnats pattering against a window pane. Jade wished her brain would stop tormenting her by keeping her awake like this. She just wanted to slip into blissful unconsciousness and sleep.
A subtle shift in her mood had her looking around at the room with a speculative eye. Walls the color of a stale cracker crowded close around her with a claustrophobic weight, painted a woozy shade of almost-green that made her feel all queasy in the pit of her stomach. Looking at that color, Jade could almost feel the ship swaying under the onslaught of crashing waves, the underside sighing and groaning noiselessly like the belly of a whale filled with saltwater.
She jerked, suddenly wide awake, as a creak came from the direction of the door. It was indistinct enough to almost go unnoticed, but Jade’s canine ears immediately latched onto it, her head twisting sharply toward the thin panel of wood and what lay on the other side. Spatial senses flaring, a faint glow appeared as a pulsing green outline took shape around Jade’s frame, her eyes staring with such intensity at the wall that it seemed she was not looking at it, but rather through it.
Her higher senses, the ones beyond just plain sight and hearing, gave her a barefaced schematic of the hallway. Every crack, every whorl of wood in the furnishings, every spear of metal nailed into the floorboards— all of it became startlingly clear as if put under a microscope’s lens. Yet, there was nothing out of the ordinary, despite what Jade’s thundering heartbeat seemed to be insisting upon. No cause for alarm, certainly, as not a single living (or indeed non-living) being that could have made the sound registered to her radar-like scrutiny.
Slowly, but still staring quite fixedly at the door, Jade sank back into the plush comfort of her pillow. She tried to compose herself, wondering if she should wake Rebecca— but, no, that wouldn’t do at all, the little girl needed her rest, or at least that was what Jade gathered most small children needed to stay healthy and happy. What would she even say after waking her? That she had heard an odd noise and felt spooked by it, like a toddler on Halloween night?
No, no… Jade wasn’t going to be a ninny about this. Bec hadn’t even so much as stirred: there simply couldn’t be anything to worry about. Feeling satisfied with her assessment of the situation, Jade folded her hands over her stomach and closed her eyes once more. Several moments passed in the dark, only the subtle shifting of the ocean and the warm air of the cabin as her company.
Crrrk-kk.
Jade’s eyes snapped open. That had definitely sounded like a floorboard creaking underfoot, and Jade would bet money that it was right outside their cabin, too. Her hands grasped at the bed covers, fingers clawing and curled into fists as she shoved to her feet and stalked over to the door. She yanked it open, perhaps with more force than was necessary.
The hall was silent, well-lit, and, most perplexingly of all, empty. Lightless shadows appeared to melt from the ceiling, coiling around the illumination cast by lamps stretching along the walls from left to right. Several cabins alongside theirs were occupied; Jade could feel the steady constriction and stretch of dozens of sets of lungs, and so she knew these other passengers to be fast asleep. None of them were the noise’s cause.
Abruptly, at least to Jade, the air became eerily still. The hairs on the back of her neck spiked upward, an icy cold sweat beading across her brow. After several moments of deliberation, Jade extended one foot out into the hall, eyes shifting cautiously around as if she were testing shark-infested waters, but nothing unpleasant happened. No hidden trap was sprung, though Jade’s stomach still roiled with nerves. Somehow, this was even worse than being outright attacked.
Shaking her head, Jade retreated inside her room and shut the door once more, sweaty and shaking hands fumbling a bit with the knob. She knew she was acting incredibly silly, getting all worked up over what was probably just a byproduct of the roiling waters below them, but some part of her brain found her concern to be completely rational and noteworthy. It frustrated her to no visible end.
Returning to her perched position on the side of her cot, Jade resolved to at least get a few hours of sleep that night.
-
She didn't sleep a wink.
When Rebecca woke in the early hours of the morning, it was to light steaming in through the narrow porthole on their wall and Jade bent over the pieces of what was clearly some kind of gun, eyes squinted in tired concentration. Struggling out from underneath the covers, Rebecca tried to nudge Bec with her bare toes to get him to move out of the way so she could stand properly on the floor. When that didn't work, she huffed in exasperation. At last, she elected to simply stand on him until he moved. It was a tactic which didn't have it's desired effect, however-- Becquerel continued to laze about on the floor, apparently totally unfazed by the Little Sister's full weight pressing into his rib-cage. His tail even whapped a few times against the floor: it shouldn't have been possible for a dog to be so darn ornery, but here they were.
Rubbing at her eyes with balled-up fists to clear them of sleep, the Little Sister tilted her head to the side in bewilderment, surprised to see Jade up and about so early.
“What’re you doing?” she asked. Her voice broke off into a loud yawn about halfway through, but Jade appeared to understand anyway as she paused in her tinkering. She looked up briefly from the electric green pieces scattered across her lap, mustering up a grin at Bec's antics despite the obviously exhausted pallor over her face.
“Just a little side-project,” said Jade, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. “Nothing very interesting, I'm afraid! But hey, we can go get breakfast whenever you’re ready. I hear they've got some pretty nice pumpkin pancakes somewhere on this boat.”
Her head still rang with doubt, but Rebecca whole-heartedly agreed that pancakes would be a great way to start to the day.
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Gamzee Makara Wrote:S’aight. After all, dogs have a tendency to motherfuckin’ bite.