08-27-2013, 12:37 PM
Continued from: Hidey Hole
Sleep had been fitful for Aria. Images of men and women flinging things through the sky. Terrible monsters taking over the world as if they were human. Aria started awake several times before grasping the candle in her mind and floating back into the emptiness that was safe and calm.
Aria pulled herself out of the cot and stretched her aching muscles. Not only had the dreams kept her up but the cot itself was not very comfortable. Aria looked down at her clothes and sighed. The grime from the day before still covered her and probably the linens she'd slept in as well. Aria grabbed a large t-shirt from her bag and silently made her way to the washer and dryer and took out the things she'd washed yesterday. Aria slipped the filthy clothes off and dropped then in the washer and pulled the shirt over her head. Then started it with a cringe and it started with the filling of water.
The bathroom was free and the safe house was quiet. Aria wasn't sure where anyone was, she wanted to drown in the water but instead took a quick shower. She really needed a place of her own. She really disliked living with others. Even though she technically had lived with others her whole life, but under lock and key where the sun doesn't shine was less than a home than this tin can was.
Aria freed the bathroom as quickly as she could. After fully dressing Aria made sure the clean up after herself. Habits were ingrained in her, she could hardly break then, even if she wanted to. The daily routine was something as comforting to her as drowning herself in the deepest pools away from the world.
There was no bed to make, she smiled. The pillow lay tossed on the cot waiting for the rest of the linens that had been put in the wash with her clothes.
Aria rummaged in her bag and pulled out a small candle and a lighter and tore a piece of paper from the back of her journal. It was the little things that made Aria sane. Avoiding contact with people was just the bare minimum, The emptiness of her personal bubble was a big help, but it was the candle and the flame that brought it all together for her. She had been taught to push all her emotions into the single flame of the candle. She lit the flame symbolically now, but in the beginning it was the only way to gain the calm composure needed for everyday life.
Aria sat in the corner of the make-shift living room near her cot and crossed her legs before placing the unlit candle in front of her on it's little stand. The lighter was something she had picked up at a store on the way to Moscow, she had forgotten to pack the one she had been given. The smell of candle wax burning was just as much a comfort as the ritual itself, it was probably why she did the same thing every morning. Aria lit the candle and tore a small piece of paper from the leaflet and held it over the flame and watched as it burned. Fear. Fear was always the hardest to control. Fear was the deafening if uncontrolled. Hers or others it didn't matter, it could incapacitate the greatest of heroes if they didn't control it.
Another piece of paper, Anger. Another, happiness, sadness, one after another Aria feed the paper into the flame each emotion removed from her bubble, each emotion gone and sliding around the outside as if they were someone else's.
Aria sat back against the wall and just stared at the flame, watching it dance across the surface. It was really the only time there was peace.
Edited by Aria, Aug 27 2013, 12:37 PM.
Sleep had been fitful for Aria. Images of men and women flinging things through the sky. Terrible monsters taking over the world as if they were human. Aria started awake several times before grasping the candle in her mind and floating back into the emptiness that was safe and calm.
Aria pulled herself out of the cot and stretched her aching muscles. Not only had the dreams kept her up but the cot itself was not very comfortable. Aria looked down at her clothes and sighed. The grime from the day before still covered her and probably the linens she'd slept in as well. Aria grabbed a large t-shirt from her bag and silently made her way to the washer and dryer and took out the things she'd washed yesterday. Aria slipped the filthy clothes off and dropped then in the washer and pulled the shirt over her head. Then started it with a cringe and it started with the filling of water.
The bathroom was free and the safe house was quiet. Aria wasn't sure where anyone was, she wanted to drown in the water but instead took a quick shower. She really needed a place of her own. She really disliked living with others. Even though she technically had lived with others her whole life, but under lock and key where the sun doesn't shine was less than a home than this tin can was.
Aria freed the bathroom as quickly as she could. After fully dressing Aria made sure the clean up after herself. Habits were ingrained in her, she could hardly break then, even if she wanted to. The daily routine was something as comforting to her as drowning herself in the deepest pools away from the world.
There was no bed to make, she smiled. The pillow lay tossed on the cot waiting for the rest of the linens that had been put in the wash with her clothes.
Aria rummaged in her bag and pulled out a small candle and a lighter and tore a piece of paper from the back of her journal. It was the little things that made Aria sane. Avoiding contact with people was just the bare minimum, The emptiness of her personal bubble was a big help, but it was the candle and the flame that brought it all together for her. She had been taught to push all her emotions into the single flame of the candle. She lit the flame symbolically now, but in the beginning it was the only way to gain the calm composure needed for everyday life.
Aria sat in the corner of the make-shift living room near her cot and crossed her legs before placing the unlit candle in front of her on it's little stand. The lighter was something she had picked up at a store on the way to Moscow, she had forgotten to pack the one she had been given. The smell of candle wax burning was just as much a comfort as the ritual itself, it was probably why she did the same thing every morning. Aria lit the candle and tore a small piece of paper from the leaflet and held it over the flame and watched as it burned. Fear. Fear was always the hardest to control. Fear was the deafening if uncontrolled. Hers or others it didn't matter, it could incapacitate the greatest of heroes if they didn't control it.
Another piece of paper, Anger. Another, happiness, sadness, one after another Aria feed the paper into the flame each emotion removed from her bubble, each emotion gone and sliding around the outside as if they were someone else's.
Aria sat back against the wall and just stared at the flame, watching it dance across the surface. It was really the only time there was peace.
Edited by Aria, Aug 27 2013, 12:37 PM.