05-16-2013, 10:53 AM
It would take less time for them to walk to Jim's place than it would for someone to go with Sid all the way back to City Park to retrieve her truck. So it is that by the end of the night Jim has not one, but two unexpected guests taking up space in his little studio apartment.
Somehow they get there. And somehow Sid has been convinced to tag along. There was a moment where the woman hesitated, looked back over her shoulder to the east, back the way they'd come. She frowned as though that might magically cause her truck to apparate from there to the club and she wouldn't have to endure whatever mode of transportation got them from Point A to Point B. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way, not even for the Awakened. In the end the choice to go along with the pack of Magi isn't much of a choice at all. She can either go with them, or she can wait for a bus to take her back to her truck.
She doesn't take the opportunity to explore Jim's building when they get there, but escapes to the backyard, such as it is, for something resembling fresh air. She isn't alone for long. Soon enough the others join her, and the fresh air is chased out by the smoke from Sera's cigarette. This doesn't appear to bother Sid, or at least, she doesn't cough or choke or pull faces, waving her hand dramatically in front of her face like some non-smokers might. Instead she stands some small distance from the others, shoulders tense, arms wrapped around her upper body in a tight self-hug.
And so she stays, becoming neither more nor less tense as the others gather, or as Sera expands on what she'd said of her dream at the club. Sid's brows tighten as she listens, her gaze downcast. At some point while Sera talked, describing the man, the mist, the circle of ash, Sid had slowly, inch by inch by means of the occasional shift of her weight from one foot to the other, made her way a little closer to the others, so that by the end it's almost like she's part of their number. Almost. Not yet.
They exchange phone numbers, even Sid. As everyone begins making their way to the door and wherever they keep themselves, Sid remains.
Who knows why she does it. Maybe it's because they got lost together (and a couple of times apart) at the museum, or maybe she thinks he'll be too preoccupied with his own affairs or his other guest to think of harming her. Or maybe, just maybe, she's gotten enough of a measure of the man to know she'll survive a night in his apartment unruffled.
Regardless of the why, or even the how, it happens that for a while Jim isn't alone in watching over the sleeping figure on his leather couch. Sid sits with him as he rolls that joint. Eventually, she relaxes enough to start nodding off herself. An offer of the bed is made, one that she refuses with a firm shake of her head, coupled with her usual worried frown. Instead she picks a spot on the floor and sits, back propped against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees. She watches the darkened shapes on the other side of the room, listening for the boy's breathing, the dim burn of the joint floating in the darkness. Little by little her body relaxes as the smoke fills her lungs. Eventually, her eyes droop closed and her body goes slack, knees falling outward, her arms falling to her sides, her chin doing its level best to touch her sternum.
Her sleep is shallow. Sometimes, as she drifts in and out of consciousness, she hears voices murmuring in the darkened room, but she has no understanding of when or what was said.
Later, when she wakes, she waits for Jim to stir, hoping to thank him for...whatever. It's from him that she finds out about the warehouse, and from him that she gets either its address or its general location on W 12th Ave. Her mind already plotting out a series of investigative trails to follow, she heads for the door. It's only when she's almost there, hand outstretched to throw the locks and set herself free, that she remembers why she'd waited for her host to wake before leaving. Her head turns first, showing him a three-quarter profile of her soft features, her eyes obscured by the stem of her glasses. Then her shoulders turn, then her torso, then her foot slides to the side, putting the angle of her body perpendicular to the red-painted door.
The corners of her mouth twitch almost upward, but then her bottom lip disappears between her teeth and the bud of a near-smile vanishes before it can begin to blossom.
"Thanks," she says, casting a glance in Jim's direction that actually sticks to him for a few seconds. Turning away, she twists the deadbolt and undoes the chain and unlocks the door. Then she's off to the library.
Which is just a different kind of Nerd Cave, really.
[whoops, I just realized that I did actually give Sid a cell phone, so I updated my post.]
Somehow they get there. And somehow Sid has been convinced to tag along. There was a moment where the woman hesitated, looked back over her shoulder to the east, back the way they'd come. She frowned as though that might magically cause her truck to apparate from there to the club and she wouldn't have to endure whatever mode of transportation got them from Point A to Point B. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way, not even for the Awakened. In the end the choice to go along with the pack of Magi isn't much of a choice at all. She can either go with them, or she can wait for a bus to take her back to her truck.
She doesn't take the opportunity to explore Jim's building when they get there, but escapes to the backyard, such as it is, for something resembling fresh air. She isn't alone for long. Soon enough the others join her, and the fresh air is chased out by the smoke from Sera's cigarette. This doesn't appear to bother Sid, or at least, she doesn't cough or choke or pull faces, waving her hand dramatically in front of her face like some non-smokers might. Instead she stands some small distance from the others, shoulders tense, arms wrapped around her upper body in a tight self-hug.
And so she stays, becoming neither more nor less tense as the others gather, or as Sera expands on what she'd said of her dream at the club. Sid's brows tighten as she listens, her gaze downcast. At some point while Sera talked, describing the man, the mist, the circle of ash, Sid had slowly, inch by inch by means of the occasional shift of her weight from one foot to the other, made her way a little closer to the others, so that by the end it's almost like she's part of their number. Almost. Not yet.
They exchange phone numbers, even Sid. As everyone begins making their way to the door and wherever they keep themselves, Sid remains.
Who knows why she does it. Maybe it's because they got lost together (and a couple of times apart) at the museum, or maybe she thinks he'll be too preoccupied with his own affairs or his other guest to think of harming her. Or maybe, just maybe, she's gotten enough of a measure of the man to know she'll survive a night in his apartment unruffled.
Regardless of the why, or even the how, it happens that for a while Jim isn't alone in watching over the sleeping figure on his leather couch. Sid sits with him as he rolls that joint. Eventually, she relaxes enough to start nodding off herself. An offer of the bed is made, one that she refuses with a firm shake of her head, coupled with her usual worried frown. Instead she picks a spot on the floor and sits, back propped against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees. She watches the darkened shapes on the other side of the room, listening for the boy's breathing, the dim burn of the joint floating in the darkness. Little by little her body relaxes as the smoke fills her lungs. Eventually, her eyes droop closed and her body goes slack, knees falling outward, her arms falling to her sides, her chin doing its level best to touch her sternum.
Her sleep is shallow. Sometimes, as she drifts in and out of consciousness, she hears voices murmuring in the darkened room, but she has no understanding of when or what was said.
Later, when she wakes, she waits for Jim to stir, hoping to thank him for...whatever. It's from him that she finds out about the warehouse, and from him that she gets either its address or its general location on W 12th Ave. Her mind already plotting out a series of investigative trails to follow, she heads for the door. It's only when she's almost there, hand outstretched to throw the locks and set herself free, that she remembers why she'd waited for her host to wake before leaving. Her head turns first, showing him a three-quarter profile of her soft features, her eyes obscured by the stem of her glasses. Then her shoulders turn, then her torso, then her foot slides to the side, putting the angle of her body perpendicular to the red-painted door.
The corners of her mouth twitch almost upward, but then her bottom lip disappears between her teeth and the bud of a near-smile vanishes before it can begin to blossom.
"Thanks," she says, casting a glance in Jim's direction that actually sticks to him for a few seconds. Turning away, she twists the deadbolt and undoes the chain and unlocks the door. Then she's off to the library.
Which is just a different kind of Nerd Cave, really.
[whoops, I just realized that I did actually give Sid a cell phone, so I updated my post.]