FINAL CHAPTER: Cecilia: Room With A View

[Kadael]

Cecilia picks out something green, brown, and warm, along with new underthings and socks. Actual socks, to keep her feet from freezing. At this moment, she's glad that she chose practicality over style for her vacation wardrobe.

Especially when it comes to sleepwear - all of her stupid, fancy things are back in Maine. Not that she wears them anymore.

She gives Jack a little wave before heading out to the bathroom to change.

[Seon]

Jack blushed and turned away from the bar fridge to wander over to the cabinet. Surely there has to be something here... he opened the cabinet and searched for anything inside.

[Laraqua]

The cabinet contains a DVD in a blank case which is marked in black texta: Vacation Clips From Mobile Phone, 2011.

Other than that, there's a few moth balls and not a whole lot else.

[Seon]

Jack closed the cabinet and stood up. His wet pants were beginning to stick to him, making him itch in all the wrong places. Maybe there was a bathing robe or something that he could change into.

He put the trenchcoat near the window to let it dry in the sun and stood waiting near the door to the bathroom.

[Kadael]

Cecilia peels her wet clothes off, dries herself with a nearby towel, and starts dressing. It's so nice to finally be dry after all of that wading through water.

She avoids the mirror as best she can. It won't do any good to indulge her vanity now.

Even if she does wonder what Jack sees in her.

[Seon]

Jack knocked nervously on the bathroom door.

[Kadael]

Cecilia jumps a bit at the knock, but it's probably just Jack. She pulls her shirt on, makes sure the strings on her sweatpants are properly tied, and gathers up her old clothes.

"Yeah?" she asks when she opens the door, once again staring at her feet. "Something, uh... um, hi. It's open."

[Seon]

Jack jumped when she opened the door, suddenly incredibly self-conscious of his bare and bandaged chest.

"Umm... There's nothing to eat in this room," he said. "And I left my shirt in here and..."

He blinked, realizing that he had been leaning forward toward her all this time. He pulled his head back, walked past Cecilia wordlessly, closed the door once Cecilia left, and then began to dry himself with the towel.

[Kadael]

"Okay." Cecilia nods, head still firmly pointed downwards (she is absolutely not looking at how well-built or injured he is) as she scurries past him. It's only when she hears the door shut that she realizes something.

Does he know he's in the womens' bathroom?

Instead of going back to Room 105, she decides to head down the hall to see if she can find a kitchen.

[Seon]

"Crap," Jack muttered when he looked around and realized where he was.

Feeling even more awkward than before, he hurriedly left the bathroom and went into the men's room to pick up his shirt.

[Laraqua]

Cecilia knows exactly where to go. Perhaps after all the trouble in town, she's found some way to etch the map of this place into her mind -- or perhaps it's because this whole place seems eerily familiar. It almost resounds with nostalgia. The biggest kitchen is likely behind the restaurant though there may be food in the various cases of the cafe. It's really up to her what she's after. There's also alcohol in the pub downstairs if she wants to get a stiff drink of dutch courage. At least while she's gone, she'll have some time away from Jack while he puts the shirt on in the men's bathroom.

[Kadael]

Cecilia heads for the big kitchen. She doesn't feel up to eating anything heavy, and she's more likely to find something kitten-suitable there.

It's strange to think of herself as alone now. Is it such a good idea to avoid Jack? What if he sees it as an outright rejection of his feelings, and it feeds his anger? He still has the shotgun - damn, she should have taken that back when she had the chance.

[Seon]

Jack sighed. What was going on with him? He looked at hinself in the mirror.

"What are you staring at?" he snarled.

He tried to wear his shirt ahain, discovered it to be bit too wet, and dragged it back to his room to dry it. Cecilia wasn't there anymore.

"Mew," the kitten said. Jack turned around to face it looking at him with a hungry eye. "Can't eat me yet," Jack muttered before picking it up. "Let's go find Cecie."

[Laraqua]

Cecilia enters Lake Shore Restaurant on the ground floor and finds that most of it seems to have been tidied away, as though someone were in the process of packing up after a big night. A few tables are still in position and one is still prepared with a plate of schnitzel, gravy, and peas and corn (still wafting steam and smelling cooked and delicious) and silverware. There is also a grand piano at the corner of the room, most likely used to play music while patrons eat, though there's no one there now. There's a door behind the heavy wood counter that likely leads into the kitchen.

[Kadael]

The lone dish on the table looks so good. She was never a fan of eating her vegetables, but this is no time to be picky. Cecilia seats herself in front of the plate, picks up a fork, and starts eating.

Table manners, of course, are an afterthought. So is the kitten. Cats shouldn't eat people food anyway, right?

[Laraqua]

It tastes so good and warms her belly at the same time. She didn't realise how hungry she was until she takes that first bite. The schnitzel is superbly cooked and it's so large it almost hangs off the plate. The chips are nice and salty and the gravy is just right, not too thick and not too thin, and certainly not lumpy. The peas and corn are, well, peas and corn. Decent, and food, but neither here nor there compared to the rest of it. They taste delicious dipped in gravy, though. Mm....

Show,Do Americans eat schnitzel, chips and gravy? In Australia you can get it at any good fish and chip shop. Do you have fish and chip shops?

[Seon]

"Cecilia?" Jack called out as he wandered through the hall, bare-chested, holding a kitten, and looking ridiculous.

[Laraqua]

She could be anywhere, really, and with these solid walls she probably wouldn't hear him unless he shouted for her. Or screamed. There is the map at the front of the hall by the rear doors which could give him a few places to start looking.

[Seon]

"Well, damn," Jack muttered. "I knew it was a bad idea to split up."

Cat meowed agreeingly.

"Looks like it's just you and me for now, alone and defenseless against monsters in the dark."

The cat meowed, frightened.

"Cecilia!" Jack shouted out. "Where could she be..." he walked over towards the map.

[Kadael]

Resisting the urges to lick the plate clean (but the gravy is so good) and fall asleep in the chair, Cecilia gets up, stretches, and heads for that back door. Finding something suitable for the kitten shouldn't be too hard.

And maybe she should bring back some food for Jack too.