A Beautiful Mess

[companioning]

WHO: Inara Serra
WHERE: Fountain and around the village
WHEN: September 1 - September 4th
OPEN TO: to all
WARNINGS: angst, anger, mild language

---

Fountain

Inara Serra broke the surface of the water, sputtering and gasping for air. Frantically she was trying to make her way to the edge of the pond or fountain she'd found herself in. She hauled herself up over the edge and still gasping for breath, she rested her forehead on the edge of well, a fountain.

She had no idea how she'd got there. Because the last thing she remembered, she'd been speaking to Sheydra on the terrace outside of her quarters on Sihnon. Sheydra! Her head snapped up and she was frantically looking around as she tried to push herself to her feet.

"Sheydra!" she called out, worry and fear making her tone sound almost hysterical. "Bāngbāng wǒ!" she cried out before leaning over the side of the fountain as she desperately stared at the water, hoping and praying that her friend would break the surface of the water. "Sheydra, please," she whispered but didn't see anything other than her own reflection.

She could feel her chest tightening and tears beginning to form in her eyes. No Sheydra. But if she'd been taken, surely Sheydra had been as well. She didn't know why she'd been taken though--- Wait. Her eyes narrowed and her fear quickly melted away to cold fury.

Malcolm Reynolds.

She'd probably been snatched because of something he'd done. It wouldn't have taken much digging to find out that she'd rented a shuttle from him at one point. But it wouldn't have taken much more digging to find out she'd left the Serenity months before.

Her head tilted back as she straightened and took a few unsteady and very waterlogged steps. "I don't know where he is! You might as well take me right back where I belong! The Guild doesn't take kindly to kidnapping!" Surely whoever had taken her would be listening and once they realized their obvious mistake, they'd take her back to Sihnon.

Around Town

Somehow she'd managed to make herself look presentable before she'd headed out to look around the village. She wasn't sure how she'd done it but even though she looked presentable, she was uncomfortable. The fabric of the teal scrubs felt scratchy against her skin. She wasn't use to wearing such things and she found herself longing for her silky dresses and her lotions and her makeup.

It was selfish and petty, she knew that. But she still missed it.

She exhaled as she reached up, pushing back her hair back over her shoulder. Her curls looked almost wild, but there was little she could do about them since she didn't have any of her products with her. But the wild curls looked good on her, even if she didn't particularly think so. Sighing, she dropped her hand and looked around. As much as she tried to mask her emotions, it wouldn't be entirely too hard to tell she was confused and lost. She wanted answers, wanted answers and wanted out of there.

She wasn't sure she'd get those things.

But, she could at least try and find answers. Maybe there was a library, something that had some sort of information. Something.

((OOC: Hover over the Chinese for translation))

[closed] my own kind is much too dangerous

[3ofswords]

WHO: Kira Akiyama
WHERE: 7I; out along the northern shore of the lake.
WHEN: September 10th (predated)
OPEN TO: Tim Gutterson
WARNINGS: Probable NSFW content

---

( Read More )

[closed] tastes like being poor and small

[theintercessor]

WHO: Jude Sullivan
WHERE: House 19
WHEN: August 21st (backdated)
OPEN TO: Credence Barebone
WARNINGS: Usual warnings for Credence (abuse narratives) and Jude (epilepsy symptoms) may apply.

---

( Read More )

[closed] gravity won’t get you through the mazes

[3ofswords]

WHO: Kira Akiyama
WHERE: House 39
WHEN: September 15 [predated]
OPEN TO: Bodhi Rook
WARNINGS: N/A

---

( Read More )

[closed] the life you learn from someone else

[theintercessor]

WHO: Jude Sullivan
WHERE: House 23
WHEN: September 6th [predated]
OPEN TO: Bodhi Rook
WARNINGS: Usual warnings for mentions of epilepsy symptoms may apply.

---

( Read More )

a sigh is just a sigh

[womanofvalue]

WHO: Peggy Carter
WHERE: Outside the Inn
WHEN: September 1st
OPEN TO: Steve Rogers
WARNINGS: n/a

---

It's been an odd few weeks most recently, what with one thing after another. Part of her feels like there are pieces of this puzzle that she's missing, because it seems far too obvious that the flu had somehow been connected to the opening to the other side of the village, not to mention that strange room of samples. It's the latter that's truly weighing on her, tugging at old, raw memories that she doesn't like to think about. Every night, she dreams about standing on the Brooklyn Bridge with what she'd thought was Steve's last vial of blood, but she'd been wrong, hadn't she?

What if they've got more of it here? What if this is some elaborate scheme to get at Erskine's serum and she's been looking past the obvious the whole time? Part of her is also aware that she's using the incident and discovery as a way to ignore the other dreams she's been having. Steve has been here with her for months now and Peggy is no closer to understanding how to open up and tell him how she feels if it isn't already glaringly obvious.

Every time she closes her eyes, she thinks about bloody Steve Rogers and how she'd kept trying to protect him even after he'd gone, like somehow she could save him when he had been frozen so far away from her. Will this just be another retreat of last time, another instance of Peggy being unable to do anything but let fate trod all over her and take away what she'd just figured out she wanted. It's these thoughts that plague the back of her mind as she wanders around the village to try and give herself inspiration and perhaps it's simply her mind directing her there or the universe pointing her that way, but she ends up finding Steve outside, working, and isn't entirely sure whether she's prepared.

Well, now she has to be, she decides, never one to shy away from something potentially difficult.

she's a real peach!

[womanofvalue]

WHO: Peggy Carter
WHERE: Peach Trees - 7I
WHEN: August 31st
OPEN TO: Bucky Barnes
WARNINGS: n/a

---

It's almost exciting to have so many new things to explore, to the point that Peggy has stopped looking past the why. Well, that's hardly true. She's never going to stop wondering why these things are here, but she can at least enjoy the fruits of their spoils. Literally, in this case, given that she's dragged Bucky out to the grove of peach trees in the name of exploration. That ocean or lake or whatever it had been has yielded nothing, along with the strange room they can't breach (but that weighs on her mind), and it's left her wanting more answers and receiving none.

She's using the peach trees as an excuse both to get out of her house, but also to drag Bucky with her, because perhaps, if there's anyone, he might understand what's been troubling her lately. Unfortunately, that does require Peggy to inevitably talk about the vials of blood and how they've put her in such a place in the past, not to mention the other emotional icebergs that Steve Rogers presents.

"Here," she says, already half-climbed atop a tree and fishing around for some of the peaches to drop down, craning back as she uses a branch to support her as she winces, seeing that she'd just narrowly missed striking Barnes in the head. "Duck?" she offers, belatedly, perching on a little spot halfway up the tree with a peach in hand.

They're quite good, actually. They must be something else, given that she'd heard rumours of people healing after eating them, but as far as she's concerned, all she really wants is the fresh fruit.