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[i][u]Location[/u]:[/i] Motel Room > Kitchen
[i][u]Interacting With[/u]: Lia [@Write], Andy [@Roosan][/i]
[i][u]Mentions of[/u]: [i]didn't mention others by name but y'all are there[/i][/i][/center]
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Gloria was dreaming.

Well, actually, she was remember. Gloria didn't dream, hadn't been able to since she was a young girl, and thus her tired nights were instead filled with scenes she had already experienced. Most were mundane little thoughts, images of a lonesome breakfast or an endless math class, but others-- they strung up Glo's insecurities like Christmas lights and blared them for all of her mind to bask in. Lunches spent alone in the bathroom during her finale year at school, suspicious mail, labeled with an insignia Glo couldn't decipher. The fight she had with her parents moments before she escaped through the third story window of their apartment complex.

This dream wasn't as bad as the others. It was a distant memory this time, long before the runaway occurred. She was about ten years old, when she was still merrily placed in some concrete jungle elementary school. Her knees were bloodied -- Glo remembered that this was when she got into a fight with some ribbon-tied brat who called her ugly -- and her eyes were fresh with tears and satisfaction because even if she got scolded the other party was still worse off. Gloria stared into the bathroom mirror, endlessly fascinated by her young appearance. Her round face was grubby and dark-skinned (that's right that's right it was summer, the sun was out, the tan was on) and her eyes were huge and still innocent. The mirror-Gloria and memory-Gloria glared at each other for endless, silent moments. Staring. Staring. And then a shape appeared behind her, sudden and unfamiliar. Glo turned easily and stared at the shadow.

Another mirror-Gloria stared back. Her expression twisted into something dubious, because there never was another mirror on the other side of the wall. Mirrors were not meant to face each other, she remembered her father once telling her, because there is an awful sort of magic that gets caught between them. Gloria glanced between the two mirrors, blinking as she realized that she felt nothing out of the ordinary. They were just mirrors, holding her reflection a thousand times over, shuddering only slightly as the school air conditioning coughed against them. Mirrors. The dream went on as Gloria glanced back and forth, appreciating the odd illusion held within the frosted glass. She barely even realized when more mirrors started appearing around her, forming a circle of glittering reflections that turned around and around as Gloria kept seeking out her own eyes. The bathroom was gone. 

Gloria broke away from her trance suddenly as darkness engulfed the rest of the room, and she stared up to find a spot of light trickling down onto her shoulders. Dust caught and vanished in the ray, and the mirrors vibrated with sudden life as light bounced against their reflective surfaces and pressed further against Gloria's body. She was no longer ten, but fully grown, given new life by the dream's sudden surrealism, and with growing panic Glo tried to find a way out of the circle of mirrors. No... Not mirrors, there wasn't a collection of them, there was only one now. A literal circular mirror, as high as a wall, trapped her within the dark place. The light was fading out above her, and her reflections had ceased movement as she approached the closest wall and rose a hand. Cool glass met clammy palms, and Glo breathed out a noiseless scream as the rays above faded and she pushed against the frail reflection looking down at her, noiselessly. She pressed and pressed and pressed forward as the darkness swallowed her whole and then--

The mirror broke.

Gloria awoke with a gasp, sitting up suddenly as the shattering noise played on and on in her ears in the form of white noise. She shook with an odd sense of euphoria, clutching at her arms and squeezing the skin there to ensure that she was indeed awake and this was not another memory-dream-whatever. And then it came, the sense of forgetfulness that often chased after her REM cycle, and Gloria breathed out a thankful sigh. Around her, sleepiness stayed. Her companions still breathed quietly, clinging to sheets and pillows and beds as the morning threatened to push them awake as well. Glo leaned back a bit to summon a harsh crack from her lower spine, relishing in the sound and feeling. Sleeping on the floor wasn't new to her; she remembered going a year or two without a bed long before this whole fiasco took place, and if anything this motel carpet was a lot more comfortable than her parents' hardwood bedroom.

It took her a few moments to stand up and stretch, because for some reason she felt the need to bask in the little stream of morning sunlight that slipped through the curtains. It gave off a golden hue as it dappled across the dingy floor, showing off the collection of dust and mold that floated in the air. Bodies shifted in and out of the scene and Gloria smiled, reaching out for her bag and pulling her Polaroid free from its clutches. She shifted to and fro across the room, looking for the perfect angle, and with one finger pressed over the flash she took a picture. 

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Gloria flapped the image, airing it out, then set back to admire it with a dubious eye. Good enough for today. She settled down a moment longer to slip the picture into a free sleeve in her photography journal, and then rose up to crawl towards the free bathroom. Her shower was fast and painless, freezing for sure, but painless. She washed quickly as not to hold up any other stirring teammates, and barely dried herself before slipping on an outfit she had dawned two days prior. Jeans clung uncomfortably to still-damp thighs, and her shirt grew darker and clung to her body awkwardly.

She avoided the mirror, for obvious reasons.

Back out in the bedroom, she stepped carefully around the others and smiled inwardly, viewing sleeping faces with a gentle eye. Most were still waking, slowly, shifting in their sleep or near-lack-of-sleep, and as Glo took note of each familiar face she realized two were missing. Lia and Andy. Her heartbeat increased for a moment, quick and relentless as her mind drifted to the worst scenarios possible, and then she relaxed against the motel wall and breathed out, sighing away her worries. They were probably just... Outside. Maybe making breakfast. Nothing bad, nothing bad.

[i]nothing yet[/i]

She stepped out of the room and drifted towards their second most used room, the kitchen. Already the smell of a gas fire and eggs attracted her stomach, and Glo quickened her pace and turned to find the others settled on the couch and in the kitchen with plates of scrambled eggs. A small smile pressed against her lips. "[color=dc7575][b]Morning, fellas. Hope you don't mind if I help myself...[/b][/color]" She drifted passed them to shovel some eggs onto a plate, taking a tentative bite just to quell the rumbling in her stomach. Bland  and spongy, but that was fine. It was better then nothing. She turned back to the other two and tilted her head, asking in a sweet but still-groggy voice, "[color=dc7575][b]Sleep well?[/b][/color]"