[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/IKSv6A9.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/jusLX2O.png[/img]
[color=c0e03e][b]Location:[/b][/color] Her apartment
[color=c0e03e][b]Interacting with:[/b][/color] [color=ffffb2]Eleanor[/color] and [color=008b8b]Eliana[/color] [sup][@lovely complex][/sup]
[color=c0e03e][b]Mentions of:[/b][/color] [color=#F0E68C]Karen[/color] [sup][@Fabricant451][/sup]


[/center]


[indent][i]Thunk.[/i] 


A door closed with heavy finality in the distance. There was the sound of footsteps, and the predictable creak of the ninth step in the stairwell. Ffiona knew the sound well, it made the same squeak every single day on her trips to and from her second floor apartment. The person causing the sound was likely of a similar build to Ffiona, as the creak was more of a groan for any larger person. Perhaps it was her neighbor, Karen, she was such a sweetie! 


The footfalls grew closer before stopping, Ffiona could visualize the approach of the figure without even opening her eyes. There was a muffled metallic sound, the crinkling of a leather bag, the shifting of fabric - cotton, most likely - but how did she know that with such... [i]certainty[/i]? There was the metallic sound again, less muffled, now jingling in the open air. It was a set of keys, less than ten, but more than five, perhaps even a keychain or two. Focusing intently on the noises, Ffiona zeroed in on an individual key being slid into the lock. The sound of metal against metal was sharp and grinding. [i]Click, clink, click, clink, click, clink[/i]. Each pin tumbler moved up and down in turn, before settling into their correct positions, allowing the plug to rotate and the door to be opened.


“[color=ffffb2]Foxy? Are you awake?[/color]” her mother’s voice called out the familiar family nickname.


Ffiona startled, eyes snapping open to see the glow-in-the-dark stars scattered on the ceiling above her bed. Blinking slowly, she turned towards the door to her room. Her eyes level with her end table, which was littered with tissues and a now empty bottle of Nyquil. She tried to climb her way out of out of her post-illness, drug-induced grogginess. What kind of wild lucid dream was that? As if she could [i]actually[/i] hear the intricate details of locking mechanism in her front door…


“[color=ffffb2]Fi?[/color]” Eleanor called again, quieter now that she was peeking into Ffiona’s bedroom, wearing a cotton blouse and having a leather purse in hand. Okay, either this was the craziest coincidence on the planet, or Ffiona [i]wasn’t[/i] dreaming a few moments ago. “[color=ffffb2]Oh, baby, you look awful![/color]” El said before sitting beside her 25 year old ‘baby’ on the bed. Her tone wasn’t harsh, instead it dripped with maternal concern. What it was, though, was loud, much too loud for Ffiona’s newly sensitive ears.


“[color=c0e03e]Mmph, hey mom…[/color]” Ffiona croaked and rolled over to face her better. Eleanor raised the back of her hand to her daughter’s forehead. It felt like being transported back in time, to an ill eight 8 year old Ffiona, stuck in bed and regrettably having to miss school. Then, now, it didn’t matter where or when, FiFi [i]hated[/i] missing out for something as lame as being sick. The touch of her mother’s skin against her forehead felt like a thousand points of electrical contact, which was strange, but not wholly unpleasant.


“[color=ffffb2]Your fever seems to have broken. Are you feeling any better?[/color]” El asked, retreating her hand back to her lap, her voice was still unbearably loud. Ffiona flinched and held a finger up to her lips.


“[color=c0e03e]Shhh…[/color]” Ffiona shushed, “[color=c0e03e]Kind of… I pretty much just have this killer headache now. But, I feel really… strange.[/color]” her own voice was barely above a whisper, trailing off along with her thoughts. Eleanor studied her first born with a worried countenance. It was then that Ffiona noticed her eyes for the first time since her arrival. “[color=c0e03e]WOAH, are you wearing contacts? That color is wild![/color]” Fi exclaimed, her own volume assaulting her ears now. She couldn’t help it, she’d never seen that color before! It was like some glorious hybrid of blue and green, it looked like more than just pigments. The color had depth and brightness, almost like a hologram… or magic?


“[color=ffffb2]W-what?[/color]” her mother asked, eyebrows stitching together in confusion. “[color=ffffb2]No... here. Put your glasses on, maybe that’ll help.[/color]” Eleanor said, passing her the lenses from amidst the tissue graveyard that was the end table. Her mother was probably right, FiFi had had terrible vision since the second grade. Glasses didn’t suit her face, at least not in Ffiona’s opinion, so she wore contacts nearly every day. Ffiona unfolded the frames and slid them on. Instantly, the crystal clear world was eclipsed in a hazy cloud of vision. Ffiona took the glasses off and could see again, slid them back on and couldn’t. Finally, she took them off and put them back on the bedside table.


“[color=c0e03e]Huh… no. I must have left my contacts in, so that’s not it.[/color]” Fiona stated, hazarding a guess at the reason for such a strange visual phenomena. Eleanor gave her an odd look, accented with those [i]eyebrows[/i] again.


“[color=ffffb2]No, you didn’t. I made you take your contacts out two nights ago, after I realized you had been wearing them for over twenty four hours.[/color]” Eleanor explained. It was Ffiona’s turn to look concerned and confused. “[color=ffffb2]You don’t remember? That’s when you gave me the spare key… no? Nothing?[/color]” Ffiona made a face and shook her head ‘no’.


“[color=ffffb2]Well, I uhm… I brought you some feel better food. I can’t stay long, I’m on hot beverage duty for the people doing cleanup duty on Main Street.[/color]” More out-of-the-loop confusion was present on Ffiona’s face, but she continued listening to her mother for further explanation. “[color=ffffb2]Verona has gotten a lot more chaotic while you’ve been holed up playing [i]Sleeping Beauty[/i].[/color]” Her mystically colored eyes flicked up to Ffiona’s rat’s nest of greasy ginger locks. It’d been… what? Three days since her last proper shower? “[color=ffffb2]Speaking of beauty… maybe you could work on a bath? It might make you feel a little better, and then maybe venture outside? Nature has always been your life force.[/color]”


That sounded like a good form of healing. Ffiona had never been one to eschew the many benefits of sunlight, even when it burned her up as a child. FiFi nodded obediently as her mother stood up from the bed.


“[color=ffffb2]This flu that you caught, it seems to have only lasted everyone else around three days. Though, from what i’ve heard, you aren’t the only person to have come out of it feeling, well… [i]strange[/i], as you put it. I’ll ask around, text or call me if you need anything, okay, baby?[/color]” Ffiona nodded again and thanked her mother before she headed out, keeping the spare apartment key ‘just in case’.


Ffiona stretched out in the bed, yawning and kicking away the covers. She felt like an extra from [i]The Walking Dead[/i] with much less brain-craving, and more ugly undeadness. She snatched her mobile from the charging station on her bedside and swiped in her passcode.


[quote=I’M DYING]To: [color=008b8b]Eliana[/color][/quote]


She texted one of the most recent contacts in her phone before sitting up in bed completely.


[quote=Scratch that, already dead. It’s been over 72 hr since I’ve seen the sun. I’m WILTING!]To: [color=008b8b]Eliana[/color][/quote]


Ffiona prioritized food over hygiene for now. She felt completely starved, and her mother had mentioned bringing some feel good foods. Lo and behold, on the kitchen counter sat a can of chicken and stars. Perfect! That had always made Ffiona feel better growing up and, of course, Eleanor of all people would know that! FiFi set to work heating it up and pacing around the room, watering her many parched house plants. Ffiona’s tiny apartment was basically converted to a mini conservatory. She loved each and every plant, most even had names. The microwave dinged and Ffiona flitted over to retrieve her first post-flu meal. 


It tasted awful. Much too salty, and not at all magical, like she had remembered it being in her childhood. Ffiona’s tastebuds reacted so strongly to the flavor that she gagged and nearly barfed on the spot. The only way she managed to get it down was to water it down about equal parts water to soup, and to add ice cubes - because it was also way too hot to eat, even though two minutes was usually perfect timing.


With basic nutrition taken care of, next on the list was to make herself look presentable. Well, to at least make herself look [i]human[/i] again. She started up a shower and the water hitting the tiled walls in the tiny bathroom raised such a echoing cacophony that she immediately recoiled before turning it off in a panic, covering her wounded ears and breathing heavily. Okay, so maybe not a shower then… 


Instead, Fi drew a bath, which was also too loud. She left the room and closed the door whilst the tub filled, her head still pounding from the noise, even went she was nearly two rooms away from the source of it. Something was still wrong, even if the flu symptoms were gone. She didn’t feel right, maybe this was what it felt like to go stir crazy? If there ever was a person to lose their mind from staying indoors too long, it would be Ffiona. She had to get out of her apartment, STAT!


[quote=Friend date?]To: [color=008b8b]Eliana[/color][/quote]


FiFi sent a final text to her friend and set the phone on the floor beside the tub. She had to wait until the water cooled a considerable amount before it was comfortable enough to settle in to. And so, there she soaked, in the world’s most lukewarm bath, after eating watered down soup and speaking in nothing but hushed whispers all day long. She wondering what exactly was wrong with her and pondered how to reintegrate into society after such an unfortunate hiatus. Life was supposed to be an adventure, and this was one hell of a slump.


Wait a minute… she could see?! Without her glasses or contacts… how???[/indent]