[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qFC355N.png?2[/img][/center][hr][hr][right][sub][color=1a7b30][b]Location:[/b] The Crows' Nest[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=007236][b]Date:[/b] February 25, 2057[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=00746b][b]Time:[/b] 8:16[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=0076a3][b]Interactions:[/b] Everybbody and nobody[/color][/sub][/right][hr][hr]
The sun hit her across the face and Lys barely stirred. Willing herself back asleep, she managed another indeterminate amount of time lost to its embrace. Then, Erik happened.

She'd been running and jumping from concrete slab to slab in her dream, down by the old collapsed Bank of America tower. Then, a voice had invaded her dreamscape so loudly that it hadn't even gently pulled her out. Lysandra was awake, lying on her back, hating herself. She remained there for what could've been a moment or minutes, unready to sit up or even look down at her legs, which were probably tangled in the covers. Others were stirring, though: getting dressed, opening doors, walking. [color=7FFFD4][i]Fuck off,[/i][/color] she thought. [i][color=7FFFD4]Just fuck off.[/color][/i] Cerise wouldn't be there. She wouldn't be there because of Lys: because she'd given in to Ajax instead of... [color=7FFFD4][i]What? [b]Standing[/b] up for myself?[/i][/color]

There were some people who came and went, but Cerise wasn't supposed to be one of them. She was one of the originals: a bedrock and foundation. It was... [i]surreal [/i]that she was gone. Even more so that Lysandra had played a role in that. Some part of her mind rejected it - simply would not comprehend or acknowledge it.

She was lying on her back, she realized. She'd forgotten to wake up and turn herself over. Lys let out a groan and pushed herself up, scooting backwards. Her stupid legs were all tangled in the blankets. She'd need to untangle them, sitting here and dwelling on things she'd rather not dwell upon. She'd need to check for pressure sores too because of the way she'd slept. That filled the next few minutes. She let herself be numb to anything deeper, but it was still there, hovering just out of sight but known and dangerous, like a crocodile under her bed.

If she hadn't brought that stupid vestige back, none of this would've happened. Yet, Lysandra hadn't been able to help herself. She'd told herself that it would eventually be good for Cerise to know, helpful even. Lys had assumed that, because she was the most educated person here, it also made her the smartest. She'd made a decision on someone else's behalf and the consequences had been disastrous. To be sure, she blamed Ajax too but, as much as he always tried to act cool, she knew that he was also hurting, deep down. He'd honestly thought that he was helping, like she had. He'd thought that he knew better, like she had. She wasn't going to beat up on him not only because it would make her an awful hypocrite, but because she knew that, beneath his suave surface, he was already doing just that.

The Lysandra that closed her door behind herself and rolled down the hall towards the Telescope Room was a muted one, with none of the sass, goofiness, or assertiveness that she was known for. If there was a mission, she would not impose her deadweight on it. She would bury herself in her actual jobs at the Crows' Nest: building and repairing useful things, caring for the ill and injured, and researching the mistle. She had a live one now. She had no excuses for going off and playing crippled adventurer.

She entered the room and wordlessly took a spot leaning back against a wall some ways from the others, arms crossed protectively, feet and front wheels up off the ground. She waited.
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