2018-01-22: Restlessness and Relaxation

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  • Cutscene: Restlessness and Relaxation
  • Cast: Jacqueline Barber
  • Where: Interior of the Carakin, somewhere in the wilderness...
  • Date: January 22nd, 2018
  • Summary: Unable to sleep, Jacqueline considers recent events in her life, and begins to write a letter...

An apothecary lay awake on her bed, staring up at the ceiling above her. She had been unable to sleep that night. These past few nights had been particularly restless. On her bedside table, next to where her glasses set folded, rested a bottle of blue liquid. A sleep aid of sorts, but tonight she had refused to use it. She wondered how it had come to this. Requiring the aid of her own potions to sleep...

It wasn't as if there was anything particularly negative to it. Her potions, as a rule, carried no real drawbacks on their own(unless they had been brewed for that very purpose) and were not addictive. There was no shame in using them, but a part of her felt that perhaps it was a sign that she wasn't up to this burden.

...She knew it was a foolish thought. This past week - these past few weeks, really - had been particulary harrowing. That was the nature of life, she supposed. No matter how difficult, it always moved ever onward. Anyone would be exhausted after all of this, physically and mentally, especially after everything that had happened.

She remembered Noeline's prodding, during the visit to Baskar Colony. She was right, of course, but there was much weighing on her mind. Chief among her concerns...

Well, she supposed it would be the matter of the friend who betrayed them. The girl who seemed so sickly, to the point of spending days in bed due to illness...had displayed terrible power, was revealed to be an Enemy in the Guardians' eyes, and had destroyed one of the Statues she and her friends were trying so desperately to save.

With a sigh Jacqueline reached over to her bedside table. Her fingers brushed against the cool, glassy exterior of her potion bottle before finally finding her glasses, unfolding them with a faint 'click-click', and slipping them back onto her face. She slid out of bed and wandered out of her room, moving carefully to avoid awakening anyone.

It wasn't an easy task. There was more than one individual among the Caravan Kinship's number who was a notoriously light sleeper. She moved through the living area, pausing to grab some sheets of paper from near the noteboard before making her way to the kitchen and reaching out to flick on the lights. She paused midway through and glanced back, half-expecting to find Ethius Hesiod standing suddenly behind her.

...Not this time, unless he had been particularly stealthy to avoid her notice. She afforded herself a small sigh of relief before setting the paper on the table and digging into the cabinets.

...She still didn't know what to make of the Kaguya situation. She had injured them greatly. Catenna nearly died. Ethius could have. Not to mention what she had done to Dean... And yet, she had wanted them alive. In the first place, she had intentionally not let them know what was going on. Jacqueline had to assume their being there was not part of her original plan. Was revenge through Statue destruction her only desire, or was there more? What did the Veruni want? Did she truly care about them, or had she merely used them to get closer to her goals? And...knowing what she knew now, if she returned, should she be allowed back into the Kinship?

It was a difficult decision, but one she would have to make. ...But not at that moment. It was far too early to decide that, when the wound was still fresh in everyone's hearts and minds.

Glass clinked against glass as Jacqueline poured ingredients into a bottle. Some variety of alcohol, vanilla, and cherry flavoring, mixed together in the right amounts... Her favorite drink. It wasn't the best time for it...but at the same time, it was the time that Jacqueline needed it the most. Individual ingredients were returned to their homes before Jacqueline made her way over to the table, sitting down and contemplating the paper before her.

It had been a while since she had written a letter. The Memory Cube was so much more convenient. It was easy. Data could be transmitted practically anywhere, almost instantaneously.

And yet...there was something that was more reassuring about receiving a hand-written letter. In a way, perhaps that reassurance was what she had been looking for. She wasn't even sure that it would reach the intended recipient...but the possibility that it would reach them, and that she would receive a reply in return, it would be a sign that things were still alright. Life was still progressing. It gave her a small glimmer of hope.

...Hope...

...She supposed this last week hadn't been entirely bad, as she took a sip of her drink and began to write.

Asteroid - Lydia now, she corrected herself - was safe. Professor Castle hadn't been dealt with...but at least for now it didn't seem like he would be able to spy on them and hijack her life again. She was free to join them, and live her life as she saw fit...

Jacqueline smiled. There had been some good in this week after all. That thought buoys her emotions somewhat as she continues to write her letter, to be sent back home to Adlehyde, the pages slowly beginning to fill before she sets those aside and starts writing something else...

The night went on like this...and eventually, with her writing done and her glass put away, Jacqueline managed to drift to sleep...

...while lying on one of the comfortable couches in the Carakin's living area, glasses partially askew.

...Hey, at least it's something.