viceofvoices | Trying Normal

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Trying Normal

In the Netherworld, Hild yawned and rolled to her side, hugging the pillow in her arms tighter. After a few seconds, her eyes snapped open. The "pillow" in her arms turned out to be Krichevskoy, but that wasn't what alarmed her.

It was that she was sleeping at all. And that she still felt drained.

Keeping still, she took stock of her body and realized with growing dread that everything was wrong. She felt tired, she felt hungry, there was an odd pressure below her stomach that she'd never felt before. She could feel her heart beat, the oxygen in her lungs, the fragility of her skin. She could feel her cells dying. And though she had no way of knowing at the moment, even the red markings usually on her face were gone.

Paralyzed by shock, she continued to cling to Vyers, still trying to make sense of what was happening.

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If Krichevskoy was awake enough to notice, it didn't show, and even then he seemed comfortable enough in the woman's arms that he wouldn't mind even if he had. But something seemed to pull the demon from his slumber, a sense that something was off about either himself or Hild, or even the feeling that something about the general feel of the world had changed.

It was nothing compared to the changes Hild had to deal with. Krichevskoy was well acquainted with sleep and hunger, as well as other things, but as he blinked his eyes open he couldn't help but think that everything in the world suddenly seemed rather... dull. And almost... heavier in a way. Had he been more tired than he thought?

He looked back over his shoulder at her with light brown, almost honey-colored eyes. "Hild...?"

Hild's own eyes were a light blue now, wide and scared as she stared into space. "I..." Where was the cold, dignified and confident demon queen? She had to get herself together, had to figure out how to fix this, but all she could do was stare and blink and feel lost.

She shifted away from him and sat up slowly, lifting one shaking hand to her head. Had her senses ever been so dull? She couldn't feel power anymore, not just from within, but from anywhere. The constant radar of magic that had existed in her mind was gone, replaced by static. She couldn't focus on more than a few things at a time.

"I...I think I'm...human..." she whispered, dark skin ashen as she finally looked towards him.

"Huh?" He sat up not long after, examining her closely. Had her eyes ever been blue like that? And the red markings on her face were gone... Krichevskoy wanted to ask her if she was sure, if she knew that was the case, but he couldn't exactly argue the evidence before him either.

It was a little frightening, seeing her so shaken.

"How...?" he whispered, his hand hovering cautiously over her shoulder.

She could only shake her head, taking in the sight of his brown eyes and rounded ears and realizing he had to have been affected too. "I don't know," she finally managed to say, closing her eyes as if that could make this unsettling feeling go away. "You appear to be human as well. I...I can't remember what we were doing before we woke up. Can you?"

"Wh, What?!" He reached up to touch his face, as though he might find some evidence of change there, and eventually his hands traveled to his ears. He ran his fingers over the rounded cuff and even tugged at them a few times, as though he were trying to confirm whether or not they were real. And even when he had confirmed it for himself, his hand lingered around one of them.

Krichevskoy swallowed, a hint of panic welling up his stomach. "I cannot. I cannot remember a thing." He looked around. "Not even this room looks familiar." An inn, maybe? When had they gone?

"Perhaps if we learn hat happened..."

Hild scrubbed her hands over her eyes and took in a slow, shaking breath. "Yes. Yes, taking a look at our surroundings would be the best course of action." She rose up from the bed, her unbound hair streaming behind her. The usual adornments of jewelry and accessories were missing and her revealing dress was replaced by a long, thin, white shift the flowed to her knees.

The bedroom they were in was as average a bedroom she'd ever seen. There were no windows, however. One door, closed, stood waiting on the other side of the room, while another door to their left was slightly ajar, revealing a bathroom.

She took an unsteady step to the wall and held her hand out towards it, hoping against reason to feel some residual magic, but there was nothing. She could sense nothing.

"Whatever, whoever did this to us...must be insanely powerful," she muttered, turning in place to face him again. "To turn me human is to defy the will of reality and fate. They must be nothing short of a god."

Edited 2013-03-23 22:10 (UTC)

Krichevskoy looked her over. That outfit didn't look too familiar either. And seeing her without all of her accessories, with her hair down... His gaze flickered toward the bathroom and then away as he wondered whether or not to get a look at himself, eventually deciding to avoid that for the time being. Instead he tugged at the fabric of his pants a few times before getting up and heading over to a nearby wardrobe to look through it.

"There seem to be some clothes in here," he said, looking over at Hild. It was probably going to be a good idea to change clothes before they left. "I wonder why there are no windows..."

She looked down and blinked at the outfit. Her hand went up to her head and she frowned to find it down. After a pause, she nodded and went towards him, lifting her hair behind her and tying it into a knot in lieu of any sort of hair tie. "There could be any number of reasons, ranging from the practical to the more malevolent," she replied, peering into the wardrobe next to him.

Hild rummaged through it before pulling out a pair of jeans and some kind of corseted top. She paused for a beat, then pulled out some underwear and a bra as well. "We must prepare ourselves. Whatever could be outside the room might attack us for attempting to get answers."

She tossed the clothing on the rumpled bed and proceeded to lift the nightgown over her head.

Attack... A feeling of dread passed through him. He was human now. How was he supposed to fight. He'd never been very good with magic, and he didn't know if using magic was any different for humans besides. If anything out there was anything close to a demon's normal strength...

Hurriedly, he changed into a different pair of pants and a button-up shirt. It was a little tight, but there was something familiar about the cut. He went through the rest of the clothes in the drawer. "These would not look out of place in a netherworld... I suppose that answers the general idea of where we are."

She paused in the act of tugging the tight jeans over her hips, frowning. "A netherworld," she repeated, making quick work of the rest of her clothing. As she buckled the straps on the top, she turned towards him. "I cannot say if I find that a relief or not. Familiarity is welcome, but as humans..." She trailed off -- it didn't need to be said. Demon culture being what it was, even a friendly punch of greeting could kill them easily.

He nodded in agreement. "We will just have to keep aware and hope no one decides to take advantage." He paused a moment and then immediately started searching the room again. "Should you find any money, let me know. It will likely prove difficult to get it otherwise."

He leaned heavily against one of the nightstands and shook his head. "This is too much..." he whispered, shutting his eyes.

Hild had been searching through the bed covers for some clue or useful item but as she glanced over towards Krichevskoy, she straightened and went to his side. Resting her hand on his bicep, she smiled a tight, nervous smile.

"Krichevskoy, it will be okay. We shall fix this. And...at least we're together." She sighed and indulged in resting her forehead against his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I admit I don't know what I would do if I were in this alone," she added in a ragged whisper. How did humans function when they felt like this all the time?

For him it wasn't so much living as he was than knowing just how weak he was right now compared to everything else. He couldn't damage anything or anyone, he couldn't fight as he normally would, and he didn't even have a weapon. And given ho often the netherworld erupted into fights and skirmishes, knowing all of that was absolutely terrifying. Was this why they turned to technology so quickly? Was this what caused them to develop it to begin with?

He placed his hand over hers. "Mn. And hopefully we will fix everything for the better soon," he said. "As soon as we figure out how."

She felt a sense of calm at his touch. Hild knew better than most that real strength came from the will to act, to stand, to live. If she had no power, she would find power, no matter the form. To protect him, whether he'd know it or not.

"Yes. Shall we go?" She moved away and towards the door, but only made it a few steps before a puzzled expression came over her face. She stopped, hand hovering over her stomach as she tilted her head.

"...hmm. Krichevskoy? Your kind uses the toilet, right?"

Oh. Oh dear. Was she asking him how...? She was asking him how... "Y, Yes. We do," he said hesitantly, and not elaborating any further. "I am more than happy to wait until you are done."

What an odd reaction. Unless...she flushed, hands going into fists at her sides. "Ah! I am not asking you to help me, so stop with that face! I merely wanted to ask what it feels like when you have to urinate!" She breezed past him towards the bathroom, grumbling. "Honestly, it's not like I have a point of reference, idiot!"

The bathroom door slammed shut.

"Th, That isn't what I thought you were asking at all!" he cried back, flushing bright red himself. Honestly, it was just... awkward to talk about! Explaining something like that to another... He folded his arms and sat down on the bed, deciding to mentally delete that entire incident from existence.

Silence stretched and just when it might be a concern that Hild really did need help, there came the sound of a toilet flushing, followed by rushing water from a faucet. More silence and then...

...the door slammed open. Hild walked out, head held high. Obviously miffed, she stalked to the door out of the room. "Stop sitting around and come along already," she growled, still blushing.

Mortals were so humiliating.

Krichevskoy adjusted his collar, muttered something under his breath, and went to open the door.

He looked back and forth, nodding to Hild once he noticed the coast was clear. "Well... We seem to be under no obvious surveillance." At least, unless they had just managed to get lucky. "I wonder what time it is."

"I suppose we'll find out once we go outside," she said softly, pressing into his arm as she looked around with him. Hild then nodded and began going down the hall, trying to look more confident than she felt.

First they needed to confirm where they were. Then, it would only be smart to find a way to protect themselves...a weapon of sorts. Or better yet, magic. Though human now, Hild believed she could still have the knack for spell casting, assuming this was a dimension wherein humans could use magic.

At least he had managed to find a few hundred HL to put together. They wouldn't be able to buy very good weapons, but it would be something. He put his free hand on her forearm, alert to any sound he happened to hear. With everything feeling so far away and dull it was almost impossible for him to tell how close something was. For all he knew someone could be around the corner right now.

"I think there is a stairwell at the end of that hall." If they could just slip out quality...

"Perfect. Don't rush, we don't want to raise suspicion," she said under her breath. The hallway seemed to go on forever, though she knew it had to be her nerves, the human adrenaline coursing through her mortal veins. Right as they reached the stairwell, however, someone popped into view: a zombie!

Hild gasped and stumbled backwards, but the zombie only blinked on confusion before shaking his head in disbelief and shuffling past them. Something like the word "tourists" could be heard as the zombie went down the hallway behind them.

Krichevskoy froze, only barely managing to catch Hild before she could fall over, but let out a slow, relieved breath once the zombie was out of view. "Perhaps... I overestimated how much interest other demons would take in us," he muttered. Were they both just being too self-conscious?

No, of course not. This was an incredibly big deal! The only good part of this was that his beauty shone through just as brightly as a human as it did as a demon!

"L, Let us leave and find a weapon shop, shall we?" Another thought came to him. "Or... breakfast." Oh no. On top of all of this, he was going to have to budget, wasn't he?

"Breakfast..." Her stomach rumbled at the thought. That must be hunger? She swallowed and tried to look unaffected, but worry crept ever present in the edges of her thoughts. "Oh, but...can humans eat typical Netherworld fare?" She looked troubled as they walked down the stairs. Today she seemed to be making all kinds of expressions he'd had yet to see.

He nodded. "It depends on what you get, but it is typically easy to tell what is safer to eat and what is not. Few demons will actively serve something that is dangerous, as well. They would like repeat customers, after all." He smiled, trying to look encouraging. She looked about as at ease as he was.

"I will make sure nothing happens," he assured her. As long as she was willing to try something new, she should hopefully be all right.

She pouted a bit without realizing it, reaching to take his arm in hers as they walked. She felt vulnerable and confused and powerless, and it was so hard to stay strong when he was acting like a white knight. Could she just be helpless for a little while...?

...no. That had never been an option. Not for her.

"Please see that you do," she sighed, glancing around as they entered what appeared to be a lobby. So they were in some sort of hotel or inn? And...how were they to pay for the room they'd woken in? Perhaps they could sneak out without paying any bills...

Unless, of course, the room was already paid for. That gave her an idea.

"Perhaps we can learn something about who placed us here by talking to the clerk at the reception desk."

"Ah, that's right, isn't it?" Even if they could just get one little clue to start off!

He walked up to the desk and rang the bell a few times.

A mage popped her head up behind the desk. "Huh? Oh." Grunting and puffing, she pulled a stool close and stood on top of it, now eye level to Hild and Krichevskoy. "What is it?" she asked, her face blank as she folded her hands just under her chest.

Hild smiled in what she hoped was in her usual disarming way. "Yes, we're the couple from room 2-C. Is there any message for us?"

The mage sighed and hopped down from the stool, making a ruckus just out of view. "Yeah, your friend said to give something to you when you two got done doing the nasty. Where is it...hang on..."

Hild planted her hand over her face, biting back a number of curses.

Edited 2013-03-24 03:53 (UTC)

Krichevskoy, as could be expected, proceeded to nearly choke and go about the same color as a tomato. Just who in the world was this cheeky person, saying things like that after making them human?!

"Y, You would not happen to have seen that... 'friend,' did you? What they looked like? Sounded like?" Even if she hadn't seen them, maybe the mage had heard them?

The mage poked her head back up, only her eyes visible behind the counter as she stared up at Krichevskoy, clearly unimpressed and more than a little skeptical. "You don't know what your own friend looks or sounds like? How stupid are you?"

Hild elbowed Krichevskoy to shut up him up and laughed lightly, her hand over her mouth. "Oh ho ho, darling, you were so drunk last night, I doubt you could remember your name this morning!"

Krichevskoy gave them both a look but didn't deny anything. He did, however, mumble a few things under his breath about it not being his fault.

And on top of that he thought it had been a fair enough question. If he couldn't remember, then he couldn't remember.

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Trying Normal

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