PERVERSE - Apply Fic

06

Nico has discovered that their bodies are susceptible to all sorts of human conditions. They can experience a cocktail of problems, including despair, angst, exhaustion, and existential dread (in fact, sometimes more existential dread than the living), but also, they can feel immeasurable physical pain. At least, that would explain why Nico is doubled over, clutching their stomach only an hour after eating a bowl of Kraft Dinner.

Lactose intolerance bothers Nico more than their allergy to nuts sometimes. They probably wouldn't even know about the allergy if their father hadn't had the same one.

The others in the room have a more difficult time sitting still. It is past 7:00 PM by the time everyone has eaten, and all the dishes are washed, and so the sun won't be up much longer. Their schedules are entirely out of place, but so are they. The food is almost as bad as the basement, which is almost as bad as being dead, which is almost as bad as being alive. None of that compares to the cold season which is coming.

While many of the others are used to the barren winters of Chelster, Kaia is not. New Zealand had most recently gotten snow eight years ago. At least, eight years before Kaia died. Perhaps it has snowed since. Regardless, living out in Vancouver for several years where it is mostly rainy and cold, rather than snowy and cold had made Kaia forget the Canadian chill. At least it gets dark this early out in BC too. She'd rather be up when the sun is up, both to prevent her brain from fogging and to keep her limbs from freezing.

The basement doesn't seem to be properly insulated.

Eva is not bothered by the cold. The ramen sauce was very spicy. Actually, she wonders how it can be legally classified as edible. Mixing in some kraft dinner powder helped, even if Barry announced to everyone that her taste was disgusting, and no one stood up for her. All she did was roll her eyes. Now, she can feel her arms jittering. She can walk to the town border. She can walk there now.

"Okay, who is tagging along?" Ava asks. Her lips are puffy from the spice, and her cheeks are flushed. The gloss in her eyes makes it look like she's been crying. "I'm going to the edge of town."

Nico only groans.

"Are you going for the world record of most consecutive deaths?" Audrey nearly snorts. "Or are you trying to be a connoisseur of death? I don't know how you died the first time, but I imagine if it was hypothermia or murder, you are banking on the other happening tonight. On a highway out here in the dark and the cold? I think it's fifty-fifty."

Eva crosses her arms over her chest and forces a laugh, "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing but I'd rather do it then do nothing in this basement."

Clare does not want to get involved. They would rather listen to directives by the police. They look over at Leo, who looks back at them. The pair shrug at each other, with movements so small the others don't notice. Clare sees Eva's side. They try not to judge others like Eva, which may take practice but has ultimately been worth it.

Leo doesn't intervene, and not because he thinks it would make him unlikeable. Leo has never been likeable. In fact, being an intimidating force can sometimes be a benefit in his line of work, but less frequently than one might expect. RCMP work with victims as well as offenders. Regardless, Leo's mind is running through guitar chords. He practices with his fingers as discreetly as possible. Thinking about music keeps him from thinking about all the ways he could find out about this resurrection.

"Well?" Eva asks. If there are no takers, she intends to go alone.

Fallon forces herself out of the bed. It takes everything in her not to stop and to prevent herself from lying down, but she needs to move. Exercise is therapy, or nature is therapy, or whatever bullshit her mother would tell her when Fallon would say she needed help. Her mother is wrong about a lot of things, very nearly everything. At least being out there will be a different dreary than being down here.