upstairs, room 1701D - IMDB flu

[visible_sariel]

Sariel did go directly upstairs after talking to Captain Kirk. Yes, the staircase did wobble a little underfoot and yes, she did have to pause once or twice to muffle a sneeze, but up she went. She'd told a superior officer that she was going, she wouldn't have used the door back to her universe even if it was there and besides, she really did feel horrible.

the first thing she does, once she's closed the door, is reach for the spare quilt folded on the seat of her desk chair. Scottish winters are cold when you're a child of the tropics, doubly so when you've got a fever. Dazedly, she thinks of thanking Bar, or the landlord, or the waitrats... someone, certainly, for that quilt once she isn't ill. That leaves her wondering why her landlord's been in her apartment without telling her first, but then she has to stifle a sneeze, then another, and things start to get rather confused.

She's in Atlanta.

She's in deep space.

she's in Castries.

she's in Milliways.

Achoo!

In short order or at least, short order for the congested and slightly dizzy, she's curled up on the bed. She's fully clothed and be-quilted besides, muffling the more-than-occasional sniffle and shivering despite the layers of warm fabric covering her. She's in Atlanta-Scotland-Saint Lucia-Milliways-crew quarters, and her name is Sariel-Julie-Winnie-Vanessa. Her head throbs.

The comforter she's wrapped in is patterned with tiny multicolored stars.

the one beneath her shows a tracery of leafy vines.

Her head spins.

Comments

[wheatencrown]

Demeter say Sariel wobble upstairs and follows her with some tea and a concerned look as she knocks at the door,

"Sariel, child, what's wrong?"

[visible_sariel]

Sometime in the future, Sariel knows, Dr. Sandhu may look in on her. Captain Kirk said he'd send him, and--

That's not Dr. Sandhu.

that's not Dr. Corey.

That's not Lieutenant Selar, or Alyssa, or jarod, or--

"Hello?" Beat. Two. Sniff. "I'm not very well, I--Demeter?" She sounds raspy, not to mention bleary. "I have the flu, Demeter."

The door's unlocked.

[wheatencrown]

She moves through the door and sets down the soup near the bedside table,

"Oh Sariel."

[visible_sariel]

The look Sariel gives Demeter is at first utterly bewildered - who is this woman, again? Midway through, it turns into proper recognition. "I caught it here, and apparently I'm not alone--" cough. Sniffle. "I don't want to make you ill."

She isn't sure if goddesses can even catch mortal illnesses, but there's still common decency to think about.

Her eyes are fever bright, and she's still shivering.

[wheatencrown]

"Of course you won't, my dear. Now here have some of this soup and we'll see about getting you better."

The soup bowl is put in front of Sariel and Demeter is close by if Sariel needs help eating it.

[visible_sariel]

Sariel blinks, looks utterly confused for an instant, blinks again, then attempts to sit up while still wrapped in that starry quilt. She succeeds, though it takes a second or two longer than it normally might. "I--thanks, Dr. Corey, I'm not sure I'll be able to keep anything down just now, though. I'm really glad I called in; I wouldn't be any use to anybody feeling like this."

Does Sariel normally sound that much like an American? for that matter, would she usually put things quite that way?

[wheatencrown]

The wrong name makes Demeter frown but Carlotta had this same problem,

"I simply wish to see you well again, my dear."

[visible_sariel]

"Thanks," says that American-accented voice. Sniff. "So do I; if I'm out for too long, I'll hear about it. Forget the flu, if my unit's understrength any longer than it has to be, the boss'll probably--" she cuts off, coughing.

"... Demeter? Did I.--?"

At least that last aborted question is in Sariel's proper voice.

Her teeth may be chattering slightly.

[wheatencrown]

"Shh, time stops in your home while you're here. You need to get better. Have some soup."

[visible_sariel]

"I know," Sariel says faintly, and for the moment she's sounding like herself. How long that will last, however, is anybody's guess. "I--I'm sorry, Demeter. This flu gives you hallucinations, and--" Sniffle.

She does, eventually, reach a little shakily for the soup spoon. It's worth a try.

[wheatencrown]

"I know, child. Eat your soup and I have some tea for you too. I'll keep watch over you."

So Demeter moves closer to her to help feed her the soup.

[visible_sariel]

"You didn't have to do any of this, Dr. Corey. It's really nice of you." So says the american accent again.

Sariel can manage the soup spoon for the moment. Her hand does shake slightly, but any spillage happens before the spoon's left the bowl, so nothing on the quilt for later. Whew. Her first swallow is tentative. "Thank you, Mama. Will the teachers be very angry that I'm not--"

Oops? Hopefully Demeter's living in Provence will help a little bit, here.

[wheatencrown]

"No, they won't, my child. Eat, it will help you."

Demeter starts rubbing her back to soothe her.

[visible_sariel]

She's in Castries.

She's in Georgia, and she's in trouble if she's out for more than a--

She's in san Francisco, and she should really go to--

She's in her quarters on the Enterprise, and she should call--

She's in Connecticut, and damned if she knows what to--

"... I'm sorry, Demeter. Captain Kirk said this virus came with hallucinations, and he wasn't," cough, "wasn't wrong. You shouldn't have to do this."

she's in Milliways.

Sariel's voice is small in her own ears, but it's definitely hers. The quilt she's wrapped in is thick, but she still feels the motion of Demeter's hand through it. For the moment, she's resisting leaning into it.

She does take a second spoonful of that soup, after a pause.

[wheatencrown]

"I choose to do this, because I'm here. Worrying will just make it worse, my dear. Relax for me, please."

Demeter's hand is warm on her back, making small and then large circles.

[visible_sariel]

That almost

"Sariel, come in out of the rain, Sariel, you're going to get all wet!"

sounds like

"Lift you up, lift you up my little girl--"

something that

"You ain't changed a bit."

a few other people in Sariel's life might say. It works, too, and maybe that's partly why.

If she were more coherent, she might reply with something about worrying being hard to stop, but as it is, all that comes out is a shaky sigh. She can't help but lean a little, now. "This is very embarrassing."

She means the fact that she's been caught hallucinating other people's lives, but that may not be entirely clear. She'll clarify in a second. Probably.

[wheatencrown]

"You worry too much, my child."

She moves the soup out of the way and hugs Sariel, kissing her forehead.

[visible_sariel]

Now that Sariel can't help but lean into. She's in a

"Little shadow, today you are seven."

state to

"You make your mother proud, you do."

appreciate it more than the usual just now. That's not to say she wouldn't appreciate it normally - she would. It's just that she's a little

"Everybody's leaving, Will. Everybody's leaving."

fragile.

"I know." Sariel's voice sounds small and tired, and the sore throat doesn't help. "Remembering bits of someone else's life... but I know. I really can't do anything about it now, can I?"

Apparently, her admission of momentary helplessness warrants a shift back to English.

[wheatencrown]

"Oh child."

She holds Sariel even tighter, gently rocking her as she works to calm her.

[visible_sariel]

Demeter's good at this.

She's inAtlanta, and a teenager's in a coma because--

Sariel hasn't entirely lost her composure, whether thanks to Starfleet training or her nature or both, but

she's in Castries, and her mother is--

she's definitely not at her best, or so she'd say if you asked her just now.

She's on the enterprise, in orbit around--

Well, what she'd probably say. Probably.

Unless.

"It was my first week under the reds," says the American accent, shaky and small and achingly earnest. "It took all my courage just to tell him I thought
we were going the wrong way. and all I could do was talk to him, try to keep him awake, keep him from slipping deeper into the coma, and--"

Sariel's head is resting against Demeter's shoulder. she's fever warm to be sure, and she's definitely leaning into the older woman now.

Julie doesn't know who this white lady is.

Julie doesn't mind.

[wheatencrown]

"'Shh, he came through though and you're a brave woman."

Demeter pulls from her sleeve a handkerchief with some cold water and wipes down Sariel's forehead.

[visible_sariel]

Sariel shivers, probably with reaction, but she does relax slightly. Slightly, anyway.

"He didn't, though," says the American accent. "He hasn't woken up."

"I just want to help people," Julie says. Or is it Sariel who says that?

[wheatencrown]

"You do help people, child. You bring such wonderful light with you and he'll wake up someday."

Her voice holds no space for argument in it, its the voice of a mother who knows.

[visible_sariel]

At least something of what Demeter says

they get everyone home

not to mention how Demeter says it, seems to help. "I try," says a small voice that might be Sariel's own. It could just as easily be Julie's, though. Pause.

"Think they're gonna let him go," Julie admits, low and hurt and sorry.

[wheatencrown]

"What do you think they should do?"

[visible_sariel]

"I don't know," Julie - or maybe it's Sariel - answers almost at once. "I really don't know."

Beat. Two. "He shouldn't be like this in the first place," Julie says, voice threaded through with earnestness and anguish. Her accent's still American, but that quiet intensity can't be so easily assigned. It makes it

University of Atlanta

that little bit harder

it's all about Lucian pride

to tell one woman from the other. "I didn't stop it - I'm an accessory. I did this."

[wheatencrown]

"You want to fix it though, my child and that is what matters. You must get healthy though before you can do anything."

The hug grows tighter, Demeter hates seeing such pain and not being able to do more than just be there.

[visible_sariel]

"Of course I do," Julie says, again almost at once. That's not indignation in her tone; it's certainty. The effect is probably somewhat ruined by the fit of coughing that seizes her in the next breath, though. At least she turns her head away? No getting germs on friendly goddesses.

"Yes, ma'am," is the eventual reply, still small and slightly hoarse. Sariel--maybe Julie, but more likely Sariel this time--sounds bone tired and still troubled, but she doesn't argue with Demeter. Not that she would, in her right mind but even if she might. Well. She can't.

And as for being there--well. Sometimes just being there

"Just cry, Sariel."

makes a difference.

[wheatencrown]

Demeter rocks her gently and kisses her hot forehead,

"Shh, my child, all will be well."

[visible_sariel]

And all manner of things shall be--

"I hope so," says a tiny, uncertain voice. Sariel--or is it Julie, or is it someone else--leans into Demeter as she's rocked, eyes closing as her head lowers back to the goddess's shoulder.

Eventually, blurrily, "Is it still light, Dr. Corey?"

[wheatencrown]

"Just barely, my dear. Its time for you to sleep and heal."

[visible_sariel]

Pause. A bit longer. "Good," Sariel--or maybe Julie--says seriously. Surprisingly seriously, one might even say. "I'm in trouble if they--" sniff. "If they--" Excuse the cough-and-sniffle combination that renders her speechless for a second here.

"Demeter?" That, at least, is undeniably Sariel's own voice, properly-accented, small even for her, and scared. "I don't think I can be alone tonight."

[wheatencrown]

"I wasn't planning on leaving you, Sariel."

Again she pulls her close and smooths her hair, for no one should be alone with a fever and an uncertainty of who they are.

[visible_sariel]

The look that crosses Sariel's face at Demeter's answer is one of pure relief. An almost undue amount of relief, one could even think. Of course, if they knew the girl wearing it, they might

clickclick click clickclickclick click

not think the expression so undue after all. "Thank you," Sariel says simply, and maybe a little shakily. "Thank you very much."

And all manner of things shall be--

[wheatencrown]

"Shh, you're welcome."

Demeter won't leave her, she will hold her and rock her and make her better through the long and strange night.

[visible_sariel]

Sariel is very, very glad of that fact, no matter who she thinks she is from second to second. Admittedly the reality might confuse her a little, when there's enough Julie in her thoughts to make her wonder just how Dr. Corey got the keys to her apartment, but even then, she's far from minding the company.

Far as in lightyears.

Sariel doesn't say that much; Sariel rarely does. She leans, to be sure, nestles beneath quilts and blankets, dreams.

Julie dreams of wailing sirens and red lights, color seeping into color as a young man lies bleeding. Vanessa dreams that her world is exploding, once, twice. Maybe more. Winnie dreams she's half raising a child who's not her own, dreams of watching her family's third generation flourish while the first fades black to grey in a slow breath.

Sariel dreams of white sand and groves of banana plants, of a tiny girl with inherited curls, of familiar faces and starfields and intangible wings, of blades with jagged edges and - clickclick clickclick click clickclickclick - half-remembered scenes.

At least once, Sariel's dreams become a nightmare.

She'll very likely be terribly embarrassed once she's in her right mind again, but object to Demeter being there?

Never in life. Not even close.

And eventually, tel God thankya for small mercies, Sariel does sleep peacefully. How long is debatable, but at least it's a start.