( closed ) standing on their own two feet

[strangel]

WHO: Cosima and Helena
WHAT: discussing an absent clone
WHEN: a little backdated
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: nothing specific foreseen, but given that it's Helena I might need to update this later

Helena disappeared for a few days, when they realised Sarah was gone. Searching, no matter what they said about rifters sometimes leaving, no matter what she had seen for herself. Sometimes people were here, and then they were simply gone. She couldn't be in the room that she and Sarah had shared with her sister no longer there, but neither could she stay away. More than once she had slunk in and lain down in Sarah's bed, inhaling the scent of her pillow, and then been afraid to stay in it too long in case her own smell lingered there in place of Sarah's.

She has been trailing through gutters, darktown, rooftops and Sundermount. Her manner is wilder than was usual the past few months, clothes more filthy and ragged, and twigs and leaves are caught in the mess blonde mass of her hair. Her nails and the creases of her skin are dark with dirt, and she only enters Cosima's laboratory when she is alone.

"Sestra Cosima." Rasping and rough, a brace of rabbits hanging over one of her shoulders. "We must talk."

Comments

[youwonscience]

Cosima doesn't jump; she's not so highly strung. But she's surprised, and then concerned, as she turns from her work. "Yeah, we d... are you OK? I mean, you're not physically hurt?"

A bit of dirt was one thing, but she's unkempt enough that Cosima's not sure if she's injured, which is a more pressing concern.

Cosima herself looks tired, under the worry. She runs her thumb over the back of her new ring, an unconscious self-soothing gesture, but it's clear she hasn't slept as well as she might.