2019-09-15 - Sulk and Sigh

Lilith doesn't look as pale through and through with the ashen cast of the seriously wounded. She has some coloring today, despite the shadows of mending fatigue under her eyes, and she's apparently had some help with a shower (after a whole lot of insisting about it). Her hair is still just a touch damp and dried in tousled waves from fingertoss after a brushing, but other than that... it's pretty much the same looking in the room.

There's no flowers or anything, but this time she has a stuffed husky dog tucked in bed with her pretty shamelessly, as well as her own owl throw blanket she asked for to put with the hospital bedding and cozy with. An ipad tablet is in her hands with the bed angled up a few more degrees for still-lounging that's no longer a dead-weight, stiff lay and she's reading something when company comes in.

Some indie post-modern instrumental rock is playing very lowly from her phone nearby while she reads, and when she sees Corey, she lowers the tablet and reaches to turn the noise off. Also... she looks kind of agitated or grumpy instead of happy high on drugs. Even though her lips tinge with smile of greeting, she's mostly hanging out in a bit of a sulk.

"Hey babe," Corey greets as he enters. He's wearing bright blue cargo shorts, his usual black and white converse and a loose white vest with 'GOLDILOCKS WAS A THIEF' on it in blocky blue text today, making the most of the summer weather, and he comes on around to lean over and press a kiss to Lilith's lips before flopping down in the chair beside her bed, backpack unshouldered and dropped on the floor as he does so.

"Looking better today, Lils. Like way more alive. Did you get the photo I sent you?" he prompts, casting a thoughtful eye to her much more comfortable position, the colour in her skin and the fact that she has the energy to be sulking. "Need some distractions?"

"Hey. Yeah, I did, it looks happy. Better than dead. I was going to kill them all and piss on a whole lot of money. There were a lot more but... found other people for them at the time, instead. That was one of the ones I sent with August to cultivate. He owns the plant and tree place on the outer edges of things. S'why it was all ready like that." Lilith tells Corey about the photo before eyeing his shirt, then backpack somewhat speculatively, considering the question, "I don't know, maybe. Did you bring a bag of magic tricks? You don't have sleeves, so if you pull some shit off, I might be impressed."

She knocks her hand back through her hair and even though she's being kind of conversational and amiable, her tone of voice is 'blah' more or less like she's decided to wallow for a while and it's bleeding all over everything. Then she just plain starts to rant as her hand falls out of her hair, "This is stupid, I was happy last night to get to feel like one big bruise instead of searing pain. Now pffft, fuck this too. And I can't do anything about... anything. It's stupid. From a seal. It's ridiculous. And everyone is busy with... stuff I can't help with now and I'm stuck here and it's boring and I'm useless and fuck."

After that last word of agitation, she eyes her tablet glass screen suddenly, then looks at Corey for a hyperfocused moment. She follows up, speaking more quietly with a slow blow of breath, "... okay, I think I'm done."

"No magic tricks, I'm afraid," Corey replies softly, glancing down to his backpack and then over to Lilith again. "Heading to class after this, so all my college shit is in there. Chef whites, knives and tools, books and tablet for taking notes." Just more proof that he takes his studies seriously.

Then as Lilith lets loose her frustrations in a rant, he sits quietly and listens, nodding once or twice to show he's paying attention, letting it all out without interruption, even for a helpful comment. Only when she winds down, quiets down and takes a breath does he asks, "Do you want solutions or sympathy?" It's a straightforward question, but one he's learned to ask.

"... neither. There's no real solutions and there's no point in sympathy. Feeling a little less dead put some piss and vinegar back into me. It's just frustrating. What if people die because I'm laid up? It's... " Lilith blows air over her lips again, this time in a smaller puff before she lays her head back against the pillows to look at Corey. She takes to absently working her bottom lip between her teeth as her brows stay knit a few degrees, then she finally shrugs a little with slant of lips, "Better for me to bitch than break things in a hospital, though. It's not a good place for me to be while... combustible, so to speak."

"You ever think..." The brunette woman pauses again, wets her lips, then stops frowning to take a turn toward thoughtful, "We deserve everything we get? Are you karma-bent like that?"

There's a soft, slightly irked huffing sound from the chef, and then he stands. "Shift your ass over, demon-lady," he orders, giving her plenty of time to do so carefully, before joining her on the bed. Nothing scandalous; he's over the covers and being careful not to pull them taut with his body weight, and he's not touching Lilith directly until he extends an arm across the pillow, so she can rest her head against his chest or arm. "You need some skin time, babe, and I don't even mean sex. But proximity and pillowing is all I can stretch to right now, because I don't wanna hurt you." Clearly, he has theories about what make people happier, and they include biology.

That done, assuming she hasn't kicked his ass off the bed, he goes on to say conversationally, "Also, did you know north pacific Elephant Seals can get to be like, five thousand pounds? I don't think I could deal with what is basically a two and a half ton sumo wrestler, without dying. So you did pretty fuckin' good."

"Mm, what'd you do, google elephant seals after I got smashed? It spoke French, I think. Bet that wasn't on Google." Lilith says to Corey because she can't help it popping out, though the non-brokerage approach at least gets her moving some stiffly with careful scoot in pretty automatic fashion over on the bed. Then she gusts out the biggest, wincing sigh she can manage to let him know what an inconvenience it is to move, clearly unconvinced by the powers of hugs in theory for right now, especially since everything hurts and she's mid-sulk.

However. She's compliant, and though she can't turn on her side to quite manage the nook of arm and body thing, she lays her head to rest with tilt against it, brows drawn down again, something of a nestling, "I'm serious, though. People do reap what they sow a lot, why can't it work in... some fucked up cosmic metaphysical sense? I don't know. I think I'm just pissed because I can't take all this stuff inside out on anything in here, deep down. That and... being prisoner to my own body." Dramatic, gawh.

Then she asks a serious question, "What do you do when you get mad or pent up? Don't say cook, that doesn't count."

Shifting so he's on his side, a little awkwardly with the angle of the bed, Corey carefully drapes his other arm over Lilith, aiming for the path of minimal bandages. "No, I don't believe we get what we deserve," he answers the first question, tilting his head down to rest his lips against Lilith's hair. He takes his pseudo-hugging seriously. "Sometimes actions lead to consequences, as they should, but all the random shit? No." His voice is quiet, but firm. "I get that you're pissed, babe. Take it out on me if you need to." Even if that leads to broken toes, though he's super hoping it won't.

"Honestly? I make bread. You've gotta be violent with the kneeding, and it tastes good." Yeah, did he not hear the comment about not saying cooking? But he does go on with, "Or if that's not an option, I smoke weed and sleep. Or if it's super bad, I go for a hard hike and focus just on what I'm doing. Hard to stay mad when you're concentrating on your foot placement and breathing."

"Hm. Not terrible answers, I guess. Unfortunately, I can do none of the above or do things my screwy way. And you do realize that while you're talking sensibly and intelligently, I defensively want to remind you I've had eight more years to test the bullshit threshold of life and all. Probably because I don't want to admit you're right." Then Lilith lies still for a moment, letting his arm fall to drape low over the blankets at her stomach. She was claw gashed as well as crushed, so there's still bandaging there and at a hip, but it's all padded with gauze and stitched and taken down a notch due to a someone's effort the night before. It doesn't seem to discomfort her with the light arm pressure and blanket layer buffer (hospitals are cold!).

"I've... I mean, even before I came back here, the ten years I was gone, they weren't exactly... anything close to sunshine. I guess it's just hard not to feel pissed on and pissed off about it about a lot of things. But I guess... I'm grateful for certain things too that happened... maybe because of some bad. I need to just calm my ass down. This is my third hospital stay in a matter of a few months. Being in here... reminds me of the last time, I think. Makes me feel like running even though my legs aren't under me." Maybe Corey hugs are kind of working, that or it's being able to vent in whatever semi-vague fashion about what sounds like some 'ugh' bits and pieces.

After a soft, relenting sigh into the idea that things just suck, she says, "Thanks for taking time to see me. It's just been Byron and he has things to do and I'm probably wearing him out." She pauses, "He's pretty amazing about it all, though. I'm lucky to have him still. Even though things aren't perfect. It's... this whole thing. Anyway, the point is, you deserve that horribly overpriced spice flower and it looks happy on your windowsill."