Tulpa /\ Ford Pines/OC/Stan Pines

Chapter 2: Dusk

By the time Estelle's alarm had been scheduled to trigger, she had almost forgotten where she was; after patting around blindly on the bedside desk for a while, she silenced it and breathed deeply. The sound of Taro's snoring next to her was familiar; the distant echoes of birdsong comforting, and the gentle friction of the quilt above her reminding her of sleepy mornings spent with someone she loved.

Wait.

A few new sounds - muffled voices - filtered in through her ears, and she opened her eyes, adjusting to the low light of the room and slowly remembering where she was. She wasn't in her own bed in California; the warblers outside were not the mourning doves of the desert, and she did not have anyone to love anymore.

She wasn't entirely alone this time, though.

The woman stretched horizontally as far as she could before going slack, then retrieved her glasses and sat up straight on the unfamiliar mattress. Her room remained the same as it had been several hours ago, though what little light filtered through the plaid curtains was mottled gold and red as the sun began to set. Estelle undid the tie holding up her hair, shaking out the curls and glancing down at her body: "Ew."

The parts of her chest exposed by her low-neck tank top were tinted gray after rolling in the dirt, and she had a matching stripe across her stomach above her waistband and all along her arms; her bra had even caught a few stray flecks of gravel that she hadn't noticed before her crash landing in the bed, resulting in angry red marks on her fair-olive skin. She stumbled to her feet and brushed off the sheets as best as she could, then threw on a sweatshirt and lounge shorts for the brief journey to the bathroom down the hall, toiletries and change of clothes in hand.

Estelle opened and closed her bedroom as quietly as possible, wincing as the door stuck in the frame and she had to pull it closed with a solid thud. The voices in the other room had been upbeat and busy, but now there was a pause: "Was that the new girl, dudes? She awake?"

Her heart leapt into her throat, and she moved to match its speed, bounding down the carpeted hallway on her toes to avoid embarrassment in front of another stranger yet to be met. Luckily, her mad dash was successful, and she managed to lock the bathroom door behind her just as the voice came to the fork in the main hallway, "Aw, must have just missed her."

"Come back, Soos! You've gotta help me set up chairs on the roof before the show starts!"

"Sure, Dip! I'm on my way!"

Estelle let out a held breath and thanked her lucky stars for the near-miss, then flicked on the switch for the light in the bathroom. It sputtered to life with an amber glow, revealing a bare-bones set up with an old claw-foot tub, basin sink, cracked mirror, a towel rack, and a small cabinet for storage. At the very least it was clean, and towels and basic supplies were readily stocked as Ford had described earlier. The woman spread her hair and body products out on the counter next to the sink and laid out her clothes on the toilet seat, turning to the mirror to appraise herself and form a battle plan.

"It's time to suit up, Iron Lass."

After a fairly utilitarian bath to save time, and after applying the smallest amount of makeup and a rose-red lip stain, Estelle emerged from the bathroom like a butterfly from a chrysalis: Her hair was refreshed and bouncy once more, its shirley-temple curls smelling of pineapple and sea salt, and her skin shimmered with a strawberry-scented body butter. Her armor for the fight ahead was comprised of a maroon belly-cut, high-necked tank top, its ribbed texture accentuating her modest chest and tucking in beneath her ribcage, where a high-waisted pair of black chino shorts reached to meet it and emphasize the curve of her hips. Once she returned to her room and put on a pair of comfortable black sneakers, she was almost ready to fulfill the rest of her social obligations for the day.