A
bleating
sound jerked me from a
fitful
sleep. I bolted upright, heart racing and black fur bristling.
Cotton sheets and a
lumpy mattress
. The hum of an ’air conditioner’ I remember finding so
fascinating
for a few minutes, before I fell asleep.
Right. The
motel
. So much for my grand declarations of
adaptability
and resilience.
I groaned and rubbed at my face... while returning back to
fully human
form. With the door locked secure last night, I’d stripped down to nothing for comfort -
luckily
I did not just stretch or tear a set of my only undergarments in my panic.
Just a bit, I understand why the Duskpaw forewent those sorts of clothes. But this is the city and -
for the most part
- I should be safe enough not to have to worry about needing the werewolf forms.
Smooth palms
pressed onto my closed eyes, with hands that still smelled faintly of ’complimentary’ soap... according to the
little card
I’d read last night. A scent from after I used the toilet in the bathroom here.
I truly cannot believe that was all it took to put me
over the edge
and
spend more money
that is not mine.
Apparently... that there was nowhere
polite
for my upset and stressed insides to lose their burden was enough for this
spoiled princess I am
to go running for the nearest lodging with at least an ’eight’ rating on the map.
When I was
fine
just using anywhere out in the forest. When I could have just used a ’convenience store’ bathroom then
returned
to my alley.
I knew that. I just
refused
to let myself
think
that I knew that.
Because that place had become a ’five’ at some point as I had
tried to sleep
, while every single building in the area around me had
higher values
.
"Pathetic."
I muttered the accusation aloud before glaring at the ’alarm clock’ that was still making
so much awful noise
. As if it were
personally responsible
for my moments of weakness.
The
glowing red numbers
blinked back at me, so similar to the lower bounds of the | Survivor’s Wisdom | scale. But the mechanical device is utterly unmoved by
royal disapproval
.
Or maybe this body just doesn’t have the face for it? The cut of Helene’s eyes are softer and missing the
lines of kohl
usually applied.
Not that I could do that sort of
cosmetics
application myself. Truly
spoiled
.
I smash buttons and toggle switches ineffectively, looking for the way to
make it stop
, and eventually succeed. By
pulling the cord
out of the wall.
> 6:00 AM. Who in the nineteen hells sets an alarm for that early for someone that checked in at midnight? Oh, stop it. Stop it, stop it! Why should I go running to actually tell her thank you again? Like when my second brother used to indulge me, before he decided that showing me attentive favor and getting scolded for it was more trouble than it was worth. <
More of my past reasoning for distrust pressed at the wolf spirit, who could only seem to think of the
short term kindness
shown to me. Drunk on the magical draw that this world’s
Lunar Goddess
allows to happen.
And if my hand lingered for a moment on the card in my pant pocket as I closed the motel room door, well...
That
feeling
a little
beyond
gratitude was no one’s business but my own.