❖ // PART I. GET IT IN WRITING

Luke is in the Red Room...

[ Theo mutters the words before her eyes open, and then a desperate gulp of air as Theo comes too, hands blindly reaching out and around her, as if pushing back an assailant that is no longer there. She lies still for a moment, breaths heavy and desperate, heart beat erratic. The last thing she remembers... red, a red light, a red door, a smiling, rotten face.

Luke, on the floor... rat poison and a needle...

… What are you willing to do to erase your regret from existence? ]

Shirley?

[ It was a mistake, going back to the house, and Theo scrambles upright with an air of near panic, tries to orient herself in the unfamiliar surroundings. A brief touch to her own neck, to the inside of her elbow - and then cold dread settles in. She's fine, she's unharmed, but she doesn't remember falling asleep in Hill House, nor does the remember waking up in a place that she can rationally explain.

Worse, she's wearing a t-shirt. Her arms and hands are bare. The gloves are gone, and that more than anything shocks Theo out of disoriented fear. Someone approaches her, and she doesn't even register that it's not Shirley but a stranger, just pushes herself up and away, curling her arms tight around her self. ]

Don't touch me - don't touch me!

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❖ // PART II. YOUR NEW NORMAL

[ Theo wanders the station with her arms tightly wrapped around her, bare hands tucked away to minimize the risk of the bare skin of her arms and hands touching anyone or anything as much as possible. She beelines it to the supply drop first things first. Haunted houses, space stations, sure, fuck her day, to be honest. She's not gonna make it without gloves, that much she knows, and for once it's not even about keeping others away. This is simple self-preservation. Would she be able to feel the depth of space if she touched the hull? Fuck. Fuck, no way she's gonna so much as try.

That still leaves her with the more than uncomfortable prospect of having to dig through a pile of clothes like leaves, if you encounter her by the supply drop. She's looking at it all without touching for a long moment, as if it's the biggest obstacle ever instead of just a pile of random items and clothes. ]

Fuck. [ And after another moment, once more for emphasis: ] Fuck.

[ She does it though. Takes a deep breath, and then starts reaching into the supply drop, rummaging around and ignoring almost everything she finds, though she's careful not to mess the piles up too much. If you happen upon her like this, you'll notice she often pulls back from the supplies, walks a few paces, shakes her bare arms out. Mutters to herself before diving back in. This happens a few times before she pulls back more fully, frustrated, pushing a hand through her hair and glaring at the supply drop like it's personally offended her. Voices her frustration quiet but sharp: ]

A dozen threadbare t-shirts, you'd think they'd cough up some fucking gloves to put on top of the pile...

[ Gloves are eventually acquired one way or another, and Theo's next order of business is to to explore the rest of the station. If you happen to pass her in any random corridor or hallway, Theo might not pay you much mind except for a passing glance, unless you pass close to her - in which case she suddenly flinches, frowning at the person just passing her and rubbing her wrist as if they'd grabbed her. ]

Hey, what the fuck?

[ Later still, Theo's in the mess hall, nursing a steaming mug. If you happen to pass by her and have a nose for such thing, it's very obvious that her coffee is more than generously spiked with whiskey - and so, presumably, is the thermos flask sitting by her elbow. If approached, Theo looks up, blue eyes wary but not hostile. ]

What?

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❖ Network. UN: crain.

So for those of you who have been here a while: how has this been working out so far?

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