Inevitable Aftermath (Solo)

((The really, really belated aftermath of a power boost from Sveta/Muse.))

Open, light, pain, shut. Her eyelids slowly removed the foggy curtain assaulting her brain. Where the hell am I? The teenager thought as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings. An ache shot up her back and neck as she tried to raise her head. Perhaps it was a better idea to just stay laying for another moment or so. She located her hands, on either side of her head, and tried to determine exactly what she was touching, what she was on top of, anything to help clue her in to where she was. Cold, hard, something like stone, a little rough and definitely not her bed back at the Sanctuary. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around her, but she wouldn’t know that for sure until she got up. Lydia felt something oddly shaped in her right hand, but her head pounded too painfully for her to turn it and see.

Was it possible for every part of the body to hurt? Because that’s what she was feeling. Every part of her felt bruised, especially her brain. After another minute, the girl pushed herself up into a sitting position, albeit with agonizing difficulty. It was dark, but the sky (she was outside, apparently) was quickly lightening. So it was dawn? What had happened the night before? She rubbed her eyes as she struggled to piece the events of the previous evening back together in her mind. Black and gold smears covered the backs of her hands as she lowered them.

So she been dolled up, as indicated by her makeup…(come on, let’s get movin’ brain)to go to a bar…and then what? Jumbled images of angry men and a pretty blonde woman spun around in her head, but they were blurry at best. She glanced down at her attire, hoping it might help jog her memory. Black leather jacket and a red and black fitted color block dress. One of her heels was sitting a few feet behind her and her other one was in her hand. She shivered. Her current garments hardly gave her protection against the early morning February chill.

Burgundy brick walls surrounded her, and a battered fence loomed in front of her. There were dirty boxes and random trash lining the walls, and puddles of melted snow and ice here and there. Ick. Think Lydia, think. But thinking hurt so much. She precariously rose and stood, wobbling but managing to stay up without the support of a wall. Light from streetlamps streamed into the mouth of the alley, and she gradually crept out into the open avenue.

Was there a place nearby that served nice, hot coffee? Or was she anywhere near the Sanctuary? She didn’t even care if she looked like she’d just rolled off the street. She didn’t even care that technically she had just done that. All she wanted was for her headache to go away and the rest of her body to stop causing her grief. Coffee was the answer. Or a nice hot shower.

Judging by the rising position of the sun in the sky, it had to be around five or six in the morning. Lyd shivered again as she walked out into the open street and tried to find her bearings. So if this is Baker street…then, oh thank God! She was near the Sanctuary. Wherever she was the night before, she had managed to make it pretty close the mutant haven. Lydia was only a few blocks away. She started the trip to the Sanctuary, but every step was greeted with the screaming of her muscles. The journey that was supposed to be quick and easy was brutally long and excruciating.

When she finally made it to her room, she completely forwent a shower or coffee, and just threw her shoes across the room and collapsed in bed. She’d never fallen asleep so fast in her life.