(no subject)

[sunbaked_baker]

Well, that really wasn't fun. Rae supposes she couldn't truly expect the weather to hold off for a little thing like her fighting for her life, but it would've been nice if it had been a little more considerate, you know? Con had been impervious to the icy rain - of course he had - but Rae's experience had been a little more... well, human. Her fingers, slicked with blood and exposed to the elements, had soon gone numb and clumsy. It hadn't been an easy night. When they had returned to her apartment, her only thoughts were of the hot shower she was about to have. The three hot showers she wanted to take in succession, and the long, soaking bath she wanted directly after, and the twelve hours or more of sleep she wanted after that. So what if that would put her waking up around sunset tomorrow.

But the door to her bathroom, of course, has other ideas.

Rae shuffles into the bar today, exhausted, soaking wet, and shivering. Her black sweater and sweatpants cling to her, sodden and still dripping as the ice melts. There is ice in her hair from the sleet that had gotten caught in it, and she smells of cold sweat and blood. The melting ice and rain may have washed much of the blood from her, but some of it remains, and the scrapes and minor injuries that show where her sweater has been torn still bleed sluggishly.

"Unnnnnngh," Rae makes an exhausted noise of complaint in her throat as she sees where she is. She hadn't been expecting Milliways. Now she has an entire set of stairs to climb before she can reach her shower. Why so cruel, universe?

Comments

[1stwitness]

"Miss Seddon?" Ichabod knows the smell of blood, metallic and sickening, and is quickly at her side. "Are you hurt?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae is able to muster up a smile for Ichabod - though it may seem more a grimace as her teeth are chattering with cold. "Heyyy, I-ichabod... Nah, I'm fine. D-d-don't worry."

Her definition of 'fine' has changed a lot in the past three years.

"Not thwarted, just delayed. I-it's miserable out there, tonight."

[1stwitness]

"What is delayed?" He gets a thick blanket from Bar and drapes it around her shoulders.

[sunbaked_baker]

"I was just walking into my bathroom," she explains, a wry gritting of teeth as she shivers into the blanket. Faint staining appears on the blanket from the diluted blood leaching from her sodden sweater sleeves. "For a hot shower."

She is lucky she hadn't already started peeling out of her soaked clothes.

[1stwitness]

"Then we had better get you upstairs", he says practically, having noticed her difficulty walking. "...are you bleeding?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Just a bit," she admits, shifting the blanket to hide her arms. "But nothing serious."

She hesitates, wetting her dry lips. "Uh... Most of it is... er... not mine."

[1stwitness]

"...I see." And this time, he really does. "Were you victorious?"

He'll take her word for it that she's not badly hurt, unless something proves that wrong. She came here under her own power, after all.

[cook_the_rude]

Before she can make that exhausting climb, a friendly face turns up at her elbow, with a large fluffy towel and a big mug of tea.

"Hello, Rae," Dr. Lecter says, smiling at her.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae glances at him, and manages an exhausted smile. "Dr. Lecter. Does the Bar warn you I'm coming, or are you psychic? 'Ahah. Rae is going to be needing tea and a friendly face when she comes in in a few minutes.'"

Worn-out rambling, check. She is who she appears to be.

[cook_the_rude]

"I saw you and made a mad dash to the bar," Hannibal says. "You're not too fast to catch, today."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Not so very fast, no," she agrees, with a faint chuckle through her chattering teeth. She will most definitely accept both towel and tea. "Usually I can keep myself warm when I'm cold, but I had other things requiring my attention, earlier."

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal hands her the mug, then will put the towel around her shoulders when she accepts it.

"Those other things were probably pesky vampires?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Very pesky," she murmurs into the tea, her cold hands wrapped around it as she inhales its fragrant steam. "Downright obstinate."

[herr_bookman]

"Hoo," Autor says, furrowing his brow as he sets his teacup down on the counter. "You look terrible."

He makes an order at the bar, and then crosses to her with a smile and two hot, damp rags. "How much of that blood is yours?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Well you should look in a mirror, bub," she teases, though she's so exhausted and cold that she can't quite sell the mocking tone through the chattering teeth. Especially when he's offering her a way of cleaning herself off a little.

"I'm fine. Just a few scratches."

[herr_bookman]

Autor tilts his chin and sniffs. "Why, Rae, you have offended my delicate sensibilities."

He crouches down to order a warm drink and a blanket from a passing rat. "Lavender tea? And would you like to sit by the fire or...?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Well find a f-fainting couch and some smelling salts for your delicate sensibilities, as my indelicate... whatevers can't manage to..." Rae shakes her head, shivering. "I can't even think straight, Autor. Tea would be lovely, but if I sit down I d-don't trust my ability to get back up again."

[herr_bookman]

Autor's gaze sharpens as he looks her over again, and he nods. "Lavender tea," he tells the rat, "and a couple of towels, too."

The boy suddenly finds his shoes extremely interesting. "Do you want to get out of your wet sweater at least? Um," he says, cheeks flaring up with heat. "You could wrap up in a blanket that way."

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae can only chuckle faintly at the furious blushing going on. She very nearly bumps her shoulder against his, but then she remembers what all is soaked into the black sweater that doesn't show stains. "That's... a kind thought, Autor," she says. "But it's probably b-better to ruin a few towels than a whole blanket. I'll warm up in a little while, when I'm drier."

[runningred]

"Shit! Fuck! Rae? You okay? Look at me, beautiful." He goes straight into first aid mode, checking her over and looking into her eyes for signs of concussion.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Oh g-gods," Rae says, shivering and putting her pale hands up defensively. They're filthy, but most of the blood has be sluiced away by the melting sleet. The water dripping from her black sweater is a watery bloody mess, however. Her black clothes, filthy and ripped as they are, are a stark contrast to the bright colors and comfort she normally arrays herself in. Her hair is a sodden mess, melting sleet dripping from it. "I'm fine, Jay. I'm fine. Just... thought I was finally going to have a shower and now my sh-shower's way upstairs and I'm feeling sorry for myself."

[runningred]

"You're not fine, Rae. You're filthy and your freezing. Tell me what I can do to help? Do you want me to get you upstairs?" He sheds his jacket and offers it to her.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae shies away, keeping her hands and self clear of the jacket. "It's fine, Jay. This is..." She doesn't know exactly how to explain succinctly while her brain is numb with exhaustion and cold.

She settles with, "This isn't a... new occurrence. I'm just tired, and in dire need of a bath." The minor injuries she did sustain have already stopped bleeding.

[runningred]

Jay backs off, kneeling on the floor a couple of feet away, making sure not to put himself between her and the door to the rooms upstairs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just worries about you, that's all. You're a good friend and I care about you. Can I get you anything? Is there anyone I can call?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"You can get up off your fool knees and stop acting like I'm a piece of porcelain, for one," she says through chattering teeth, hugging her arms against her stomach. Watery blood leaches from her sweater sleeves, dripping on the floor.

"But I guess... a towel or two would be nice. Dark towels." Seeing a white towel with the stains she knows would be transferred from her... probably would make her ill.