The Garden of Heathen

Open

NOTE* I wrote this over two nights and stayed up too late to do it so if you see any typos please point them out and I'll fix them lol. I just hope to wake up to some comments in the morning to cheer me up. I'm having a hard time finding some things I need for my room and getting it put back together and I found out someone almost half my age is engaged and even though I'm ok being single it would be easier if these whippersnappers didn't cut ahead of me and politely waiting their freaking turn is that too much to ask?? lol anyway.... Enjoy? I guess.. haha

Gally awoke to a dull ache in his limbs. Fortunately he didn't have nightmares like he'd expected, but he dreamt of sitting on the couch with Aussie just like they had last night, his hand resting on her leg and her arm around his shoulders. He smiled to himself as he realized she would be right there once he opened his eyes. That smile quickly faded when he realized he didn't feel her warmth or smell her scent. He cracked open a tired eye and saw he was all alone in the room. Maybe he slept in longer than she could?

He stretched on the bed before attempting to get up, knowing he was going to be stiff and sore from staying so still so long. Finally he managed to get to his feet which hurt the worst of everything, each step feeling like pins and needles in the bottom of his foot. He made it down the dreaded stairs on his own but felt like he needed a rest after that simple task. He forced himself to keep going, knowing he'd feel better once he warmed up his sore muscles. Joan and Aris were still crashed where he'd left them last night, but Joan seemed to be stirring slightly. Gally stayed quiet and looked around the house for Gertie or Aussie but didn't find them, only Rachel as she came out of the bathroom freshly showered.

"Hey, do you know where Aussie and Gertie are?" he asked her as they almost collided in the hallway, his voice thick from sleep and strained from a semi sore throat from all that heavy breathing the day before.

Rachel shook her head. "I got up and went straight to the shower. You're the first person I've seen today."

Gally frowned. "Well where'd she go?" He muttered to himself. 

"Do you really have to ask?" 

Rachel's question caught him off guard and he looked up at her again.

"She's doing what she can from here, obviously, she's working on-"

"On the code," Gally finished her sentence, feeling dumb for not thinking of it first.

"Where should we look first?" Rachel asked.

Gally gave a sigh as he thought about the Garden. "The only clues to work with are probably in the map room, there's nothing really useful anywhere else," he decided.

"Alright then, let's go."

Gally and Rachel walked across the Garden keeping each other's slow and sore pace. Both were surprised that they didn't feel worse after a day like yesterday, but they were still really feeling it.

Gally had expected to find Aussie and Gertie bustling about and throwing wild assumptions and speculations around when he walked in the room, but it was dead silent. They were both asleep as if they had been there all night. Gertie was curled carefully across two chairs and Aussie sat in one, her face resting on the table in front of her, a pencil still clutched in her hand. Gally was kind of sad to see her crashed here instead of having stayed in bed with him. But this was who she was, always trying to do what she could to help.

Stray pieces of paper littered the table and the floor around her, pencils and markers stuck into her messy bun, a roll of parchment paper that she'd obviously stolen from the kitchen, and multiple pairs of scissors told the tale of her busy night. Gally came up and gently rubbed her back to see if she'd wake up. Her grip on the pencil loosened and it fell with light thwap onto the table top, and a soft moan escaped her lips.