At the soft agreement behind her, Lyra padded off to the bathroom, head down, throat tight. Closing the curtain behind her, Lyra stepped into the white room and stripped without looking into the strange mirror, untying and placing her ribbon on her clothes. It looked like a standard earth bathroom except everything was slightly altered. This one was small with a toilet that looked more like a wide-drained bidet, but she wasn't sure what material it was made of. There was no sink, but there was a tall mirror that wasn't hard. It seemed to be a vertically framed shallow pool of water. Touching it would cause ripples, and her finger would push through to the wall. At the end of the room was the bath. Kind of a mixture between a birdbath and a bucket, both much larger than on earth and under a water pump. It didn't take long to fill halfway --which was all she needed-- since Saraph had shown her how it worked. So she stepped into the warm water carefully and sat in the center where the water level reached the middle of her chest. Taking a deep breath, the young girl ducked under the water and closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind in the silence. However, her heart would not quiet. She heard it like thunder in her ears and she could have sworn it felt bruised with every beat. She was glad she couldn't cry underwater. She didn't want to cry anymore. She'd done plenty of the sort already these past few days, wasting tears.
When she rose, Lyra tried to shake off the pain. She should have expected something like this after all. It was her fault. She's really got to face reality more often. If she's alone, if she stops confiding in others, there's no risk of getting emotionally attached. No risk of pain when they inevitably make it obvious that they cannot stay with her. Not friends or anything more. Ever. Lyra winced, then began washing her skin. The Cloudis use this sort of body wash that basically works on everything from skin to hair to feathers and claws surprisingly well. There was a little bowl of it beside the bath, colored with the same scheme as Life-fire and the consistency of grape jelly. Usually she would hum or sing while bathing herself, but today was not the day for that. She sighed instead and finished her bath swiftly after that. When she stepped out, she reached up to the shelf opposite the mirror and grabbed a cloth similar to a towel, but without the frilly things on earth towels. She hadn't brought a change of clothes, too focused on being alone and away from Saraph's gaze.
She felt numb, didn't really mind about going in just a towel to her-- the guest room. Right. It's not hers. Never was. It's not like they had a chance of getting any closer anyway. He wouldn't care. So Lyra drained the water, tied her ribbon around her wrist, picked up her clothes and walked out, hair dripping to the guest room. No sign of Saraph anywhere. So she changed into some of Rexia's clothes, a pair of red pants snug at the waist and loose around her legs, longer at the back towards her ankles while the front of the legs stopped right below the knee..and a yellow blouse with a semicircle neckline and a low back to make room for wings she didn't have. She was glad that her ribs had healed so well, for she would be really embarrassed to ask for help putting her clothes on now. Though she wasn't tired, the bed looked inviting. Until she remembered how it had felt to sleep in it against Saraph's bare chest with his musical heartbeat and velvety wings around her. Lyra winced knowing she would never have that again. But when her eyes opened again, they noticed something out of place near the pillow. When she reached out and touched it, it was black, thin and hard. The rest of it stuck under the pillow. Lyra pulled it out slowly and bit her lip when it's entirety was revealed. A single, ebony feather.
She closed her eyes, let it glide on her cheek. Missed him already. Her hair soaked her back and the end of her blouse. She hardly noticed. She was already tying the feather's stem into the knot of the black ribbon on her left wrist. The soft tip of it almost reached the inside of her elbow.
Lyra pursed her lips. She didn't want to stay in the house right now. She didn't want to run into Saraph. He was so quiet that she had no way of knowing where he was, if he was even still inside. Still, if she was going to leave this island in the sky, she might as well enjoy it while she can. So without letting herself think about it too much,she darted out toward the kitchen, picked a sterberi from the bowl and headed for the door.she passed the door to his room on the way out though. And her feet froze in place. Through the opening of the half-open door, Lyra stared, heart fluttering as the sun lit up his form through the window. A small breath escaped her...he was just so beautiful. So peaceful in his gentle slumber with his perfect wings spread out limp like that and his messy hair spread under his cheek. There was even a small strand at the corner of his lips..the same ones that whispered to her at the top of her head when he held her..the same ones that told her he wouldn't want her to disappear.
Lyra ripped her gaze away and walked quickly out of the house, misty eyed and ripping at the skin of the fruit in her hand. She looked up every so often, heading away from any of the other houses and trying to remember what direction the woods were. Lyra waded towards the long grass thinking maybe this was the trail she had taken towards the city when the plane crashed. She didn't want to go to the crash site though. She just wanted to be alone. Taking a small bite from the sterberi, Lyra found a suitable clearing where she could see the sky. She hadn't reached the treeline or the forest, but she was far enough away that it was quiet and she could just...breathe.
