since meeting lissandra, noelle has been struggling to sleep.
well⌠she thinks to herself, not just her. itâs the similarities she shares with queen that had made noelle nearly shriek when first approached, considering her proximity to queen and cyber city (krisâ odd behaviour, the ringâŚ) can be counted on one hand. and even though she does sleep eventually, noelle does not sleep enough. in the stillness of night her mind continues racing.
it always leads her here: blankets tossed around, pillow on the floor, window open. frost nips at the grass but noelle feels no need to shiver, even as she rests her arms on the thin layer of ice on her windowsill. each home her gaze falls under is dormantâ in truth, she had only seen a handful even occupied. surely the bustle of the underground all called some place home, but wherever that was, it certainly was not on the surface. this thought badgers her endlessly, mouth falling into a small frown, until sheâs hopped out the frame and decided to investigate for herself.
it makes her nostalgic, but it also hurts.
she passes swiftly by the grass domes sheâs already seen people traffic, moving to the ones that had been dark since her first night here. she scrutinizes each lawn, façade, door, noting the small customizations that had been given to each; her mind tumbles the idea of who might own each one like you tumble rocks into gems. who preferred daisies to peonies? green door to white? one had a wooden hitch for horsesâ or what noelle thought was a horse hitch, her only exposure to them coming from a human history book. she thinks of lissandraâs home, how she had been so shaken by the whole encounter that she had hardly managed to take in the ways her space had been arranged. would she have holly bushes? tundra shrubs? how do you decorate for someone with as much power as her? she tries to imagine what the freljord must have been like, endless ice and snowâŚ
a figure drifts into her vision. prey animal instincts make noelle pull in a sharp gasp, hands covering her mouth and buck teeth. three stomach-churning seconds pass without even so much as her heart beating before it resolves itself as lissandra, and she lets out a shaky sigh of relief.
         âlissandra?â her tone rises uncertainly until it forms a question. she swallows thickly around her apprehension and prays to the angel lissandra canât hear or feel the whole extent of her nervousness as she approaches from the empty home. strangers made her uncomfortable. but lissandra seemed like a leader, and that helps noelle relax somewhat. she was taught to respect people in positions of authority. "itâs me, noelle. I was justââ
thinking about you, sheâs about to say, but swallows the words before they can incriminate her.
         â⌠having trouble sleeping.â
The strangest thing was how difficult it was to decide what felt strangest. The first time she had been borne across words there were attempts to rationalise every angle, how it couldnât be what it appeared, how it was more likely sheâd fallen too far through the dreamscape than the reality the hosts of that place had presented. Sheâd come close to getting lost in dreams after all, they could be more perilous lands to tread than the waking world. Â
But again? After all that time. She couldnât rule out it was the same place under a new guise. She couldnât rule out that thereâs never been a âplaceâ to begin with. Too many variables, too much to decide on, too little to be unsure about.Â
And how she loathed being unsure.Â
Conviction had often been her greatest strength, and the compass of her will spun wildly in place.
All she could do was proceed as she had done and play the safest course. She had lived a long, long life spent entirely preparing for the worst, why stop that now. You could make an argument that all she knew was how to craft an image, an idea, a mythos of something or someone. It was easier when people saw you a certain way. There was much to do even in the current state of things, people and places to see, and though she had just set out for the latter, it seemed she had been graced instead with the former.Â
âWell, hello again.â This one again, still somewhat tense but far less so than when they had first met. You didnât need Lissandraâs brand of senses to notice such things, but it certainly made it easier. Noelle, she had certainly caught the Ice Witchâs interest, and how frustrating it was not being able to perceive the weave properly.Â
âIâm a little out of practice too. So, are you wandering with fatigue as the goal, or where you heading some place in particular.â It was framed as a question, but her tone made it more of a statement.
âIsnât this a pleasant coincidence either way.â
