[h1]17th ward[/h1]

[h2]Elizabeth[/h2]

Elizabeth was on her way back to the rat's nest when she heard the telltale sound of a certain street-race that would soon go horribly wrong, but in an entirely different ward. She saw the cars passing a few streets away, for the fraction of a second. Nothing she concerned herself with, the girl never learned driving to begin with. As the sound of tuned-up car engines slowly faded into the night, she adjusted her shoulder bag and strolled onward, down the nightly streets of the 17th. At this time of the night, hardly anyone was still out. The 17th ward didn't see too much action on a daily basis, despite sitting in between the Hydra's and Yatagarasu's turf. No doubt the strategical and systematic leadership of the former played an important part in that. 

Liz eventually arrived at her homely street and took a few moments to look at the majestic palace she called her home. It sat there silently, lightlessly, peacefully. A state she appreciated highly. She took a few deep breaths of night air, subconsciously probing whether any ghouls crossed these streets lately, but there was nothing. A feeling of unease overcame her. A hunch, not of imminent danger, but still making her uncomfortable out in the open. The rat hiding in her hood grew restless, so she swiftly made her way over the low fence and around the house, in through the back door.

Once inside, the feeling of unease ceased immediately. The warmth of the day was still present, purging her of the nightly cold. She felt the gaze of several pairs of black, beady eyes on her. "[color=f7976a]I'm home~[/color]" she said into the almost perfect darkness. A street lamp shone into one of the few unbarred windows somewhere, bathing the house's interior into a ghastly light that was just barely enough even for a ghoul to see. Liz took a moment to take in the mood of the house, the emotional state her family was in, and quickly came to the conclusion that everything was in order - she was alone with them. Nothing had disturbed the rats lately. That was all it took for the girl to feel safe.

She made her way through the almost pitch black house, kicking her boots off her feet on the way. Making her way upstairs, she coiled out of her bags strap and tossed it in the middle of what she considered 'her room' on her way in. A small swarm of rodents followed in her wake, staring at her and the bag expectantly, but they kept a respectful distance. It took the ghoul a few minutes to peel out of her street-wear without tearing it up, and the rats waited patiently. One of them settled down on her shoulder, another in her lap after she sat down next to a shoddy gas cooker, lighting a candle. 

[i]The house actually -had- electricity, through a shady, not-quite-legal arrangement she had made with the janitor of one of the neighbouring buildings, but she prefered to keep that down as much as possible so the people paying for it wouldn't notice. So shitty gas-cooker and candles, it was.[/i]

Elizabeth went through the slow process of making a pot full of junk-food level soup. It had all the nice things she brought with her - instant noodles, dried vegetables and several types of instant soup powder. Had a human tried to eat that, it probably would have caused a ghoul-normal food kind of reaction. You can't expect much from a cook without functioning taste buds. But it didn't smell too bad, and her target audience never complained. Liz filled a few bowls with the toxic waste and arranged them across the room. Her 'family' virtually lunged at the bowls and devoured it in mere minutes before slowly spreading out and repopulating the rest of the house again. Two of them stayed with the girl, enjoying the luxury of getting fed from a seperate bowl. Liz settled for joyfully inhaling the nice smell of the soup, a strange but consistent passion of hers. 

[i]Sometimes she actually ate some of the rat food she produced, too. It gave her a sense of belonging despite the disgusting taste, the closest thing she had to 'normality'. But not tonight. She felt too much actual hunger, tonight. [/i]