Ep. 1.5 - Quiet Nights [Solo, Open If Asked]

[Deleted]

//ooc// Feel free to PM me if you'd like a thread or not, and you can put a reply here. As long as you have a reason to be in the bar, I'm game for any way this thread goes. I'll probably use this for a series of side-scenes if no one jumps in. This also takes place a day after Drama Queen.

It was a quiet evening in Haven's bar. The room echoed with the twang of guitar strings; calloused fingers — adorned carefully-painted nails of black cherry's red contrasting a worker's hands — plucked experimentally at the notes. Matching lips twisted in a thoughtful frown, familiar chords coming to mind as she tried to bring the tune to her throat.

Soundtrack: A Perfect Circle - Gravity (5:06)

"Lost again,
Broken and weary
Unable to find my way...."

The song had an even, melancholic melody to it. The darkening light of the made the scene all the more sombre; it wasn't what she intended. She was just singing what was on her mind, a song that had popped up on YouTube and into her grey matter. The tune would not leave her, and she had hummed it several times while on a grocery errand.

"Tail in hand,
Dizzy and clearly unable to
Just let this go....
I am surrendering to the gravity and the unknown — "

Layby wasn't in the bar that night. Sarita wasn't sure where he or Cleaver had gone, but she didn't give it much thought. Layby didn't need to hold her hand and comfort her forever; she was settling well enough into Haven, and Cleaver.... Truthfully, Cleaver intimidated her. She respected the authority the old doctor had over the base, but that didn't mean Sarita couldn't be wary of her. The helibot's demeanour and way of working reminded Sarita of her paternal grandmother, and the less said about that particular woman, the better. The singer was already redirecting her thoughts on the matter, the r's rolling on her tongue as her rich voice lilted upwards.

"Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun,
I choose to live....
I fell again,
Like a baby unable to stand on my own
Tail in hand,
Dizzy and clearly unable to just.... Let. This. Go."

She wasn't sure where Catherine was, either. The woman and Sarita hadn't spoken much, and the busker made a mental note to seem more sociable. She too had cooped herself up in her room, keeping to a new set of second-hand romance novels to pass the time. They were shameless and cheesy and only fifty cents each, but Sarita liked those cheesy old tales. They were light-hearted, and she never took the antics in them seriously — things like Cast Away, now those kinds of pieces made her cry.

"High and surrendering to the gravity and the unknown,
Catch me — heal me — lift me back up to the sun —
I choose to live, I choose to live, I choose to live...."

There was such silence in the bar. The acoustics in there were beautiful, reverberating without the clanking of feet (or pedes, as was the Cybertronian word for them) or the murmur of conversation. She couldn't remember a time when she had the bar all to herself, or when Layby had left it unattended for so long. Then again, she hadn't ventured from her room much, not with all the giant transforming beings that were around.

"Calm these hands before they
Snare another pill and
Drive another nail down another meaty hole....
Please, release me — "

She let loose a series of soft but tense, warbling chords. They were conflicted and garbled, a foggy state of mind expressed in musical form. Her pick worked quickly, fluidly, swiftly and efficiently, the notes floating and spinning into the damp air. Sarita smiled in satisfaction, stark in contrast to the weak tiredness the lyrics were conveying.

"I am surrendering to the gravity and the unknown
Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun —
I choose to live, I choose to live...."

Her pick flicked out a few more trailing notes, fading into solitary plucks as her voice softened, the echoes taking on whispers.

"I choose to live...."

[Deleted]

After a couple more songs, the singer had packed up for the night, sauntering to bed with a yawn and a smile. She'd last three hours before jerking awake, startled by the flash of a scream and a particularly brutal after-image. Just a bad dream, she had quickly told herself, though she recognized the splatter of red and an old tire iron; the memory wasn't pleasant. It had unnerved her enough to send her back out into the cavern, where she now played meandering, unfocused notes to clear her head.

The last few weeks had been tumultuous. Chaotic. A lack of food and safety had put her on full alert, eaten at her nerves and made her a mercurial mess. The mood swings had been vicious, not helped by irregular hormones born of not taking care of herself. Little chance to sleep, little to sustain herself, little chance to find somewhere hospitable in the freaking desert — Sarita was giving herself a headache with the thoughts.

Putting her guitar down, Sarita let out a quiet sigh. She had been in such poor states before; her first days of homelessness came to mind. A wildfire that had disoriented her with its smoke and flames, the girl furiously trying to outrun it on a near-empty tank of gas. Being pursued by a persistent, toothless homeless man one night, after he had grabbed at her skirt and torn it. There were other times that came to mind, but every time they had happened, the rebound had been quicker. Four years of hard living had turned her skin from porcelain to ivory, though she wouldn't say it was yet steel.

So really, after getting fed and finding a bed to sleep in, Sarita's mind was going back to normal. The long, deep naps, dreamless from pure exhaustion, were making it easier to process everything. The numbing shock of discovering alien life had probably helped; Sarita's mind was still spinning at the discovery. Giant robots. On Earth. Fleeing a dead planet. It was something out of science fiction, and yet, there was no fiction to be found.

Oh, how the silence of the bar was suddenly overwhelming. It wrapped around her like a shawl, and she couldn't help but dart her eyes from side to side, looking at all the nooks and crannies and dark corners. The room was as dim as weak moonlight, and old survival tendencies had begun to kick in. The feeling of being watched, the feeling of always being on the look out — it nagged at her, and would continue to nag at her for some time. At least she felt safer, and that was all that mattered.

She scooted forward a little, look down and around the small crate she was perched on. If the room had been busier, she would have been higher up; the feet of titans were liable to squish her. She couldn't help but give an anxious jerk of her head, making sure to herself that a robot wasn't about to come sauntering in.

You need to stop being so twitchy.

With a long, calming breath, Sarita settled the ragged thought trains that ran through her mind. She picked up her guitar again, plucking out the beginning to a Queen song. It was too late in the evening for a bombastic performance, so she'd just play the first few seconds in a loop.

[Deleted]

Catherine didn't like anyone in her kitchen; Sarita could appreciate that.

Catherine didn't seem fond of Sarita; Sarita could also appreciate that.

Catherine would flip if Sarita touched her ice cream; Sarita could also appreciate that.

Which is why, in the never-ending quest to find ways to get back to sleep, Sarita put the sweet delight back in its place. The freezer was quietly closed, the woman glancing around nervously — so far, no Cat. Good. Pulling open the fridge, Sarita quietly opened the vegetable drawers, hunting around until a palm-sized avocado was pulled from its hiding place. She didn't have ingredients for guacamole, but she liked the taste of avocados all the same.

Perfect.

Heading over to where the knives were kept, Sarita stopped in place, suddenly aware of a large, furry mass against her leg. Quickly looking down, the source was revealed to be James, the tiniest resident of Layby's DMZ. He looked less brown than she remembered — he'd probably been chasing bugs in the dirt — and his purring was surprisingly loud. Sarita's eyebrows arched, surprised the cat was willing to come to her after the incident a day ago.

"Can I...help you?"

The cat meowed, and jumped up on the counter. Sarita jerked back a little, putting down the avocado so she could grab James. It was unseemly, letting the pets saunter all over their food prep; they lived in a mine! A mine with dirt floors! Who knew what James had picked up on his little feet?! With a frown, the woman picked him up under his legs, and put him back down on the floor.

"No, Señor Gato. No jumping on where we eat."

But James jumped back up, and he meowed again. Sarita repeated the process three more times, then sighed harshly and turned her back to the feline. She didn't want to deal with him and his disgusting habits; if he walked all over Catherine's counters, then it would be Catherine's problem. Sarita's family would have never tolerated cats, not with how they got into every nook and cranny after running around God knew where.

She was about to slice open into the deliciousness that was her avocado when she heard a scraping sound. Head perking up, the woman quickly turned around, strands of black hair falling into her face. James was pushing an empty can of salmon towards her, sitting and looking up expectantly at the newest human. Sarita gave the cat a look, and turned away yet again.

"No. Cat feeds you, not me."

The cat pushed the tin a little more. Sarita ignored him until the tin fell to the ground with a loud clatter, making her flinch; the knife she was using nearly nicked her fingers. With an abrupt pivot, she snapped, "Quiet! You'll get her attention!" and glared at the cat, only to be answered with a little paw reaching for her. The woman's eyebrows arched incredulously.

"What — "

And then, James broke out the puppy-dog eyes.

There was really nothing else she could call them; the cat stared at her remorsefully, sadly, those eyes all big and round and begging for attention. He haphazardly batted at her with one paw, and Sarita couldn't help but be reminded of Oliver Twist and an infamous scene. Please sir, I want some 'ore, said that tabby's expression, and whatever dislike Sarita was feeling melted away into something else entirely.

"Oh...all right," she said begrudgingly. "I'll get you a snack. But leave me alone, okay?"

The cat watched her with those same eyes as she went for the bag of Iams Cat Food, salmon can in hand. As soon as Sarita seized the top of it, pulling it open so she could scoop some food into the spare can, James bounded over like an excited fawn. (She would have gone looking for his bowl, but she didn't want to attract attention before she was done getting a snack.) Leaning down, she gently placed the tin on the floor, James diving his brick-red nose into the meal before she was finished standing. He really, really needed a diet — maybe he was naturally bulky, but from what Sarita could see, his belly flopped and wiggled all over the place.

She'd ask Layby about it later. For now, the woman returned to her avocado, which quickly found itself beside some whole-wheat crackers and a small glass of milk. James came trotting back over to her, purring even more loudly than before; Sarita let him rub and scrub against her legs. He followed her out of the kitchen, trotting along against the fringe of her skirt, a second shadow to the DMZ's newest songstress.