Stella has had just enough time to change out of her wet scrubs and into the simple cotton trousers and button-down she'd got in her first gift box from the observers all those months ago; now is not the time for silk blouses and pencil skirts, even if it might make her feel more like herself. It's strange, that her house is dusty like no one's lived there in years — like it was when she first arrived in the village — but her clothes are all still there, no moths have got into the silk or wool, everything's as she left it.
She doesn't have the time to process any of that right now. Her hair is the real problem, longer than waist-length for a reason she can't yet parse, but she hasn't got the time to deal with that either; she's just put it back with an elastic and resolved to have someone cut it later so she doesn't feel like fucking Rapunzel.
What is for right now is making sure everyone's accounted for and anyone who's injured gets to see a doctor. Stella's been helping people out of the fountain who need it, off and on as she's not otherwise occupied, and she just happens to be standing there when Jude breaks the surface of the water. "Got you," she says, grabs his hand, then gets her arm round his shoulders for more leverage — he's taller than she is, like most people — only letting go when he's out of the fountain and on his feet.
She doesn't know him well. Stella makes it a point to know names and faces here, but there are a lot of people here with whom she's not done more than say hello in passing. But if she's not exactly kind, she can be polite — cordial, even. "All right?" she asks, glancing over him for visible injuries.
no subject
She doesn't have the time to process any of that right now. Her hair is the real problem, longer than waist-length for a reason she can't yet parse, but she hasn't got the time to deal with that either; she's just put it back with an elastic and resolved to have someone cut it later so she doesn't feel like fucking Rapunzel.
What is for right now is making sure everyone's accounted for and anyone who's injured gets to see a doctor. Stella's been helping people out of the fountain who need it, off and on as she's not otherwise occupied, and she just happens to be standing there when Jude breaks the surface of the water. "Got you," she says, grabs his hand, then gets her arm round his shoulders for more leverage — he's taller than she is, like most people — only letting go when he's out of the fountain and on his feet.
She doesn't know him well. Stella makes it a point to know names and faces here, but there are a lot of people here with whom she's not done more than say hello in passing. But if she's not exactly kind, she can be polite — cordial, even. "All right?" she asks, glancing over him for visible injuries.