singillatim | Я вернулся в деревню

“Yeah, well. It was kind of a last-minute thing.” She’d hooked up with someone a bit ill-advised then panicked, it's whatever. “Sounds like exciting times over here.”

People getting shot and all that.

"Exciting is - a strange way to phrase it, yes," she says with a hint of a smile, then steps closer, her eyes widening as she finally sees her face in the dimming light. That smile fades immediately.

"Oh! The burns! Did the fog touch you?"

“A little, yeah. I opened a window and got a faceful of it when we didn't know what it was yet. No permanent damage, but I have to like, inhale mushroom steam for a while yet.”

She’d breathed it in in her panic which had not been fun.

“Luckily someone else was with me and helped me flush my eyes and all that.”

She tsks softly. "Mushroom steam," she mutters. "Well, come and eat. That will help you. I don't guarantee that it tastes as good as it would at home, but it is warm."

Sveta scoops her a bowl and places it on a nearby counter.

“Methuselah said it would help,” Chloe says, a bit defensively. “I think it has been, but it's hard to say.”

The offer makes her smile though. “Thanks! Warm counts for a lot right now. You find some canned stuff somewhere?”

Canned veggies are a sort of premium product right now.

Sveta shakes her head. "Steam on burn wounds is a terrible idea," she huffs. "The moisture gets trapped and you risk infection. And the heat makes the sensitive skin worse."

She doesn't know about this Methuselah, but she knows how to be a doctor!

But she's mostly grumbling rather than actually upset.

"And oh! The vegetables. Yes. I - have been searching and saving. There aren't many, but they're there."

“Well, thanks for sharing.” Chloe takes the bowl gratefully. “I’ve always turned up my nose at the canned stuff but a while ago a guy gave me a can of peaches and I really would have done anything.”

"Canned food isn't terrible," she laughs, sitting down across from her. "But it is preferable to nothing!"

“It's gonna be a long road once we’re out of canned fruits and vegetables,” Chloe says with a sigh. She tries to lighten it with a bit of a toast, raising a spoon. “Rosehips and pine needles for all, I suppose.”

She turns to the bowl then, digging in. She's always so hungry, and trapping rabbits isn't as easy on this side.

"It isn't so bad," she assures her. "There is plenty to trap and the winter is over. I know the fog is - is terrible, but we can look forward to longer days again."

“Makes me a little nervous that we haven't seen a thaw yet,” Chloe admits. “Before the… event… the newspapers were reporting unseasonably cold weather, and we can't live on just meat.”

Trying to get everyone onto raw rabbit for the vitamin C probably isn't going to work.

"No, but - I wonder if there might be a way to grow something in the homes? We have glass. We have the building materials. We could make something like a greenhouse if we could find seeds or - anything to plant."

It's not the best solution, especially if there isn't anything around, but Sveta refuses to let people go malnourished.

"We can also use the plants by the water and under the water if we need it. There are options here."

“You know, I've been working with Rorschach -” Ugh. The expression probably shows on her face. What a guy. “- in the library, helping him sort the newspapers he found in the houses. One of the Milton newsletters was talking about some grow your own food program because deliveries from the mainland were getting spotty.”

Sveta looks up. "Really? Did they say anything about seeds or - or where to find anything?" she wonders, brightening considerably. If they had talked about it, maybe that means it is feasible to do so!

“The seeds were supposed to be distributed from the community centre, but I don't know whether they were kept there or somewhere else.” Considering the threat of food shortages even then, they might have wanted to keep it a secret. “Even if there's only a little left, it's better than nothing if we can figure out how to grow them.”

"The next time I travel there, I'll look more closely at the center," she says, firmly. "Will you help or - are you living here?"

“I don't go to the hall very often - a friend of mine got jumped there - but I think it's got a basement. Maybe they kept them down there?”

Perhaps not an entirely accurate interpretation of these events, but she believes it. Chloe sighs.

“I don't really know what I'm gonna do. I've got a place in Milton, but things got kind of weird there and I'm waiting for it to blow over.”

"Oh? What happened?" She holds up her hands. "With your friend being - jumped?" She's not sure what exactly that slang means. "And things being - weird?"

She has a feeling it's more than the weirdness that the rest of the community has been feeling.

Chloe shrugs. “I didn't see it happen, but my mate was at the hall reading and this guy he knew from home rolled in and started beating on him. Random people deciding they can be judge, jury and executioner is the last thing we need here.”

There’d been that stupid-ass wanted poster of her hanging in there too, though that's not a problem anymore because of her new problem!

“As for what’s weird, it's not a big deal. I think a guy back in Milton’s got a crush on me and I'm hoping taking some time away will cool him off.”

That sure is a lot to take in. Violence and relationship drama. She just stares at her for a long moment. "You don't - return the crush?" she wonders, trying to avoid the topic of random violence. The fact that people are still - people - here isn't new. She would just like to avoid it.

Chloe shrugs again. “He was fun, and not bad-looking, but just because I slept with him doesn't mean I love him.”

She can't even really articulate what it is she's afraid of but what if.

Her voice lowers slightly. "You slept with him?" she asks, blinking. "No, of course it doesn't mean that, but - well, did he tell you his feelings first?"

Chloe shrugs, then gestures to the burn on her face. “I got stranded overnight at his place, night I got this. We were bored.”

She’d kept pushing, waiting for him to hit a point where he’d back down, and he’d steadfastly refused.

“I don't know if he had those kind of feelings before that, but he was acting weird afterward.”

"Weird?" she pushes, wanting to know the details.

What a strange feeling this is, gossiping with someone who had been a near stranger only weeks ago like they're best friends. But it's a good feeling to have - to be able to sit and chat about something so damn normal instead of worrying and fretting about this place.

“Well,” Chloe leans forward with a conspiratorial smile, the soup bowl sitting between her elbows. “I’ve got that ability, right, the one from the aurora. Endurance. I could have gone all night and into the morning, probably, but he fell asleep. He cuddled right up to me, I really had to wriggle to get out of there once the fog cleared!”

She’d slipped out through the window as soon as doing so wouldn't kill her, hoping if he had to untape his door alone it’d cool him off a bit. However!

“Yesterday I stopped by the hall and I noticed he took down that stupid poster of me he’s had on the board for ages.”

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