special_rabbit | The Apartment below Groovy Tunes; Late Sunday Morning [11/01].

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The Apartment below Groovy Tunes; Late Sunday Morning [11/01].

"Bleaurraaurrghhhh..."

If anyone heard the sound that emerged from Amaya as she slowly seemed to pull herself not out of sleep, but back into consciousness that morning and mistook it for something not entirely human, they couldn't exactly be blamed for that. But Amaya was human, despite the groan, although, honestly, she wasn't quite sure herself. She felt odd. Exhausted. Drained. And it was with that detail, as well as the details of the unfamiliar surroundings coming into focus as she stirred herself awake, draped uncermoniously over some couch in an unknown living room, that a hand touched her neck, and then her other hand touched the marks on her wrist, and it all came together.

"Oh, zards!" she murmured, to no one in particular, because at the moment, at least, she seemed alone. "Bloody vampires!"

Although, if her memories of last night now coming back to her were any indication, they weren't exactly the bloody vampires she would have expected, and as she fell back on the couch again because she had to give them one thing, they seemed to have done a pretty thorough job of it last night and groaned again for all the weakness she was feeling just then, she made a resolute conclusion that she could confidently say she was not really a big fan of this whole Halloween holiday anymore.

Still not as bad as the mushy one, though.

[[ and for the bloody vampires in question, but, hey, it can be totally open, too, should anyone want to swing around after all that nonsense ]]

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Lucille generally wasn't used to waking up clinging to someone's wrist, or with the taste of blood on her mouth, so for a while she just drifted in and out if sleep, figuring it was just a bad dream.

Eventually she opened her eyes. She sat up, her long hair falling over her shoulders, and pulled her hand back.

"What..."

It wasn't a dream, and it seemed like last night hadn't been either.

It was probably a good thing, overall, that Tisarwat and Lucille had made such ravenous vampires the night before...well, perhaps not for poor Amaya, but at least it meant that they'd apparently drunk so deeply that they, too, were soon overtaken by the sleepiness that takes one over after consuming heartily to deep satisfaction. With the others now stirring into various states of consciousness, Tisarwat tried to cling a little bit longer to hers, to stave off the massive headache that she felt blossoming that would no doubt explode once she gave herself into full awareness. Going over the events as they came back to her. Unable to hold back a groan.

Her stomach didn't feel too great, either.

This was going to take far more than a soldier's bath and prayer at this point...

Amaya was still much too weakened and drained to move much...but her mouth was working just fine, and she definitely had it in her to complain.

"Bloody vampire!" she murmured again. "Bloody knights! Zounds! 'Brother in the basement!' That's the oldest trick in the book!"

It really wasn't, not by a long shot, but if she'd let out that much blood, she might as well let out some steam, too.

Lucille had once been covered in the blood of her mother, had carefully washed it off afterwards and burned her dress, but this was different.

She looked around, crawled towards what she assumed was the bathroom door, tugged it shut behind her and started to throw up.

Oh, Lucille, you just had to go and do that, didn't you? Because now Tisarwat needed to do the same, and didn't exactly have the convenience of a bathroom to do it in. With a groan, she gave a withering look toward the closed door and the sounds from within, before choking down a little rising bile in the throat and rolling her head back on the couch. Rolling her eyes back toward Amaya.

"'Sorry we sucked your blood last night' probably isn't going to cut it, is it?" she asked weakly, voice sticking in throat, barely making it out of the copper taste of her mouth.

Amaya managed to muster up enough strength to lift a somewhat blood-stain streaked hand again and give it a faint, dismissive wave in air.

"It's not like you could help it," she sighed. "But somebody really ought to put out a warning about being bloody vampires for Halloween on this island..."

Lucille rinsed her mouth, then opened the bathroom door.

"I'm..." she began. "I think I should go home."

She didn't want to meet the eyes of either Amaya or Tisarwat. At least now she knew there was a limit to what she was prepared to do, and that was to ingest blood.

Something they probably should have thought of before deciding to be vampires, really.

But Tisarwat was momentarily distracted, even from her own stomach, with that handwave, and the realization that this was the first time she'd ever seen Amaya without gloves.

Well, last night was, when her glaive were removed, but that hardly counted. Tisarwat wasn't exactly herself then.

That made her realize her own gloveless state, and she shifted, so that her own hands were now well concealed behind her back. Which should hardly be a priority at that moment, but you had to control the things you could in a crisis.

Her eyes went steadily on Lucille now, ignoring the gurgle of her stomach, and just hoping she could get through these.words without needing to make a break for the bathroom, too.

"We need incense," she said. "We don't have blessed water or a proper Radchaai priest, but we can do what we can for a purification."

"Well, that sounds a bit...intense," said Amaya. "It's just..a bit of blood..."

Just ignore the fact of how light and breathy the words a bit of blood left her just then...

And how incredibly she failed an attempt to sit up, something she was not planning on trying again anytime soon.

"We... do?"

Said the one who had murdered her mother in her bath with a meat cleaver.

"I do," Tisarwat amended, being as quick as she could in pushing herself up so she could tuck her hands in her folded arms as soon as she could. "But I think it might help all of us. Excuse me."

She couldn't hold it back any more, moving past Lucille to take her place in the bathroom, closing the door, and following her lead.

"Maybe that's a bit unfair," Amaya realized, in the tone of someone who was mostly just carrying on a conversation with herself, because at this point, at her level of light-headedness, she sort of was. "I remember, I didn't eat meat for at least a month after my last time as a vampire...."

"Purification?"

Lucille certainly didn't believe anything like that was necessary, but she was dizzy from the nausea and couldn't think clearly.

"Last time?"

Now she glanced at Amaya.

Amaya waved her hand again, this time even to put up two fingers, which she was very proud of, that felt like great progress!

"Twice now," she offered. "First was like this, thought it was an easy costume for Halloween, and the island does.what it does.and decided.to make it stick for a bit. I wasn't quite as, er...lucky as the two of you in my pursuits, though.

"Second time, now. That was a different story. That wasn't even the island, but they had a vampire problem on the mainland that sort of...leaked over. Wasn't the fancy, glamorous kind of charming vampires that time, either, not like you two were, or like Eric is. These were mindless, angry vampires, got so bad Diaz had to lock me up in the holding cell at the station last I harm myself or others. I'd take something like this over that any day of the week..."

By that time, Tisarwat emerged from the bathroom, where the sound of water running to full the tub followed her. Her hands were still tucked into her folded arms, which she realised would be kind of pointless if they were going to do the purification together, but still...

"You're welcome to join, Lucille, if you'd like," she said, "but it's a Radchaai ritual, so I understand if you don't. We should get Amaya some food, though, or at least get her to the clinic soon."

Pragmatic. Decisive. Trying not to let her own.emotions or revulsion get the best of her, although she had to work very hard to keep it under control. She wasn't sure if it was the best strategy, bit there.was.far too much going on to worry about that right now.

"I can participate, if it would make you more comfortable," Lucille offered, then sat down next to Amaya.

"I am so sorry. What would you like to eat?"

She looked at Tisarwat. "What is there to eat?"

Amaya shook her head a little, waved another hand. "Like I told Tisarwat," she said, "it couldn't be helped. It certainly wasn't made better by me being a bloody knight when I should know that most of them tend to have more muscles than brains anyway..."

She sighed a little, making another attempt to sit herself up, and finding much more success this time.

"Hooboy," she breathed out, "that's a....very spinny room you've got here, Tisarwat. I think...I think the clinic sounds like a good idea, though. One of you could call me a rickshaw, and I think I can take it from there..."

"I don't think you're fit to take anything anywhere," said the supposedly youngest person in the.room with lifted brows, though she felt oddly pleased with Lucille's decision about the ritual. It was not her way, but of course the Radchaai way would be the best way to handle all of this, "and neither of us are fit to prepare food until after some kind of cleansing. We'll order something, from that place you like, with the meats on sticks."

And Amaya could just eat while she and Lucille purified themselves, because even just saying that made her want to make a quick retreat back to the bathroom.

Lucille brought out her phone, and ordered food. She didn't quite feel fit to prepare food, although not for the reasons Tisarwat was referring to.

"Meats on sticks will arrive soon."

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The Apartment below Groovy Tunes; Late Sunday Morning [11/01].

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