Etude 3 (continued)

More stuff written between the sections of Etude 3, so I just edited it in here. Sorry! Kinda lost interest in the stuff in this Etude and moved on to the next one, which was fun fun fun. :)

"Sarah?"
"Nnnh?" Sarah opened her eyes slowly. Maggie stood over her with a worried expression on her face.
"It's almost time for class. You fell asleep on the floor."
"Oh. Yeah." That must be why I ache so much.
"Class time?"
"I'm getting up." She sat up, still disoriented. "Ugh, I don't want to go to class..."
"Do you think you can stay awake in class?"
Sarah tried to think about that and failed. "Maybe not."
Maggie seemed torn between two options. Finally, she said, "Yeah, you look as though you're not going to get anything out of class. Why don't you skip it today and get some rest in a real bed?"
"But I should go to class!"
"Yeah, but looking at you, I think you're going to fall asleep as soon as you get there. And you'll get even less rest in a lecture hall than on the floor."
"Oh, um, I guess." She started to sit up.
Maggie helped pull her up. "Come on, make a decision now."
"Umm... I don't know."
Maggie looked at her, concerned. "Okay, that sounds to me like a vote for 'go to bed now'. Come on." She started pulling Sarah to her bed.
"But..."
"If you're not trying to resist me, you must want me to do this. Bed. Let me set your alarm clock. When's your next class?"
"After lunch."
"Okay, I'll set the alarm so you can get some lunch, and I'll check on you before I go to the dining hall." She looked at Sarah to make sure she was still on the bed.
"Okay."
"I have to go now, sorry. I have class, too."
Maggie walked towards the door and had opened it when Sarah said, "Wait."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"Don't worry about it. Just try to get some sleep."
"Okay." And Maggie was gone.

...


The cube was about an inch long, and looked like it was made of dark pink modeling clay. Its edges were rounded and uneven; she could almost see thumbprints on the sides where the cube had been pressed. But the material didn't feel like clay -- it felt more like a plastic eraser that someone had been holding for a while, warming it slightly. And there was the matter of the... projections from the eight corners of the cube. Instead of being rounded as would have fit in with the rest of the cube's appearance, the corners had been drawn out into eight spikes that tapered into points as thin as the points on a straightened staple. She held the cube by the center, rounded part. There was something comforting about the feel of it, strange as it was. Sarah wondered why Armand had dropped it. But as she held it, a feeling grew over her that it was hers, and was meant to be hers. After trying and failing to bend one of the spikes, she wrapped it in a napkin and stuck it in her book bag.

Later that night, she'd taken the cube out and was playing with it, turning it over and over and examining it. Maggie noticed and came over.
"What's that?"
"It's some toy I found lying on the floor."
"Wow, it looks weird. Can I see it?"
"Sure." She held it out to Maggie. "Grab it by the sides, not the corners."
"Okay." Maggie reached for the cube. "Ow!"
"What happened?"
"The thing has spikes on it! Ow, ow, ow." She stuck her thumb in her mouth, trying to soothe the pain.
"You just have to be careful with it."
"That thing's too dangerous to be a toy!"
Sarah shrugged. "I guess. Are you bleeding?"
Maggie took her thumb out of her mouth and examined it. "No, doesn't look like it. That thing hurt, though. You can keep it. I'm going to go play with something safe, like a stress ball."
"Sorry, Maggie."
Maggie smiled at her. "I still think you're crazy, but it's nice to see you interested in something for once. Just... be careful, okay?"




Sarah woke to someone vigorously shaking her. "Wha is it?"
"Wake up, Sarah." It was Maggie.
"Don' wanna. Saturday."
"Come on, Sarah. You are coming to play basketball with me."
She tried to bury her head with a pillow. "Don't like basketball."
Maggie snatched the pillow away from her. "You need to do things other than your homework. Come on. Basketball."
Sarah tried to hide under the blanket, but Maggie snatched that, too. "You're mean! It's cold!"
"So warm yourself up with some exercise!"
Sarah blinked groggily a few times until her eyes focused. "You're not going away, are you?"
"Not until you come with me!" Maggie was already dressed and looked bright and cheerful.
"It's too early."
"It's ten o' clock. That's not early."
"Okay, okay, I'm getting up. Let me do it slowly so I don't get dizzy." She sat up and dangled her legs over the side of the bed. After a little while she felt clearer, and she got off the bed.
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
She tried to glare at Maggie, which was difficult with her eyes not focusing properly again. "Yes, it was." But she headed to the bathroom and started getting ready.

A little while later, she and Maggie were heading for the gym.
"Maggie, you know I can't play basketball," said Sarah.
"Don't worry, I can't either! And Paul promised he'd go easy on us."
"Paul's going to be there?"
"Of course he is! You didn't think we could play basketball with just two people, did you?"
She groaned. "So who else will be there?
"Hmmm... Vicky, Luke, Dave, not Matt, Bobby, and Joyce."
"But Dave's on the basketball team!"
"He said he'll go easy on us, too."
"Is this guys versus girls or something?"
"No, I think Paul's setting up the teams to be as fair as he can."
"That's impossible. Whichever team gets me, loses."
Maggie made a sympathetic sound. "You're not that bad at basketball. I've seen you play before."
"But I haven't played in ages!"
"Come on, Sarah, just relax. This is for fun, not for winning. I know Bobby's a worse player than you are, and she's in it just for the exercise." Maggie punched the air with her fist. "Exercise! It's good for you!"
Sarah just glared at Maggie and refused to talk the rest of the way to the gym.

Etude 3: Allegro Misterioso

Yay weirdness! I felt like a change of pace, so I made one. These beings probably aren't going to be doing much talking to each other... It almost makes my brain hurt figuring them out. ;)

Etude 3: Allegro Misterioso

Drifting through the lattice, he cursed the necessity of being forced to use such a flawed, obvious vessel for the work. But he'd needed something that would not notice sudden lapses of consciousness, something that would take such in stride. It seemed like such a short time ago when the vessels would have been considered themselves honored to be so chosen. Now, though, such vessels were more likely to be imprisoned or otherwise have their freedom of movement restricted. For now, he had to give the vessel a rest. He glowed dark violet for a moment, remembering the first -- and only -- time he'd missed the warnings signs. The vessel had gone mad, its body confused and tormented by the attempts of two different beings to control it. The madness had nearly claimed him, before he detached himself and the body tore itself apart in a frenzy. But now he floated lazily through the lattice's gently changing colours. Finally, he found his destination -- a clot of blue with green strands running through it. He merged himself with the node.

He flashed white for a moment, alerting the others. "This:observing nexus:forming locating completed."
A questioning green tinge crept over one of the elders. "Making-safe protecting not-hurting observing which:identity-to-be-known?"
He glowed red with indignation. "This:observing nexus:forming protecting making-safe progress:current."
The elder glowed blue, satisfied. "Trusting that:observing-protecting-nexus:forming warning this:preparing." And with that, he was dismissed.