Recentering herself. Who: Lottie and Open When: 5:30 pm Where: Circean Delight
Initially, she hadn't been too worried about the storm. Lottie may have been on a cruise, as perfect as the situation was, but the weather couldn't always promise to be as perfect. So she did her best to ignore the spattering of rain on the portholes as she closed shop on the Golden Apple, her mind on her plans for the evening. It was New Year's Eve, and what better way to spend it than enjoying some chill rock music in Cult of Dionysus.
But then the ship had begun to rock, and by the time she was getting ready in her room, things were sliding off of her bedside table in a rather worrisome manner. Lottie considered waiting out the storm in her room after hearing the word from the crew members, but by eleven she had meandered to the club, taking her time as she swayed along with the movement of the ship. Still, there was no way she was going to hunker down in her room like a hermit on the only day it was considered a national holiday of getting drunk.
Midnight hit. Mayhem. Confetti fell, and everything went flying. Glass shattered, speakers spouted feedback, people tumbled and screamed and piled atop one another. And then the ship tilted the other way and it happened again. Lottie fought her way through the tipping crowd to the back of the room, desperate to get in a corner, to lock herself in one spot and ride the madness. Only through pure luck and a good set of nails did she manage to wedge herself behind a fallen chair and the wall, and ride out the storm. Her stomach had churned in anger, her eyes betrayed her balance, and it was all she could do to squeeze her eyes shut, put her hands over her stomach, and ignore the screams of terror and the abhorrent rocking.
And then finally. All went still. You could've heard a pin drop. There was a collective sigh of relief, and she pulled herself up, shaking, to look out over the cover of the chair and survey the damage.
It was as if a tornado had torn through the room. Among mass amounts of debris, some people laid motionless, while others stirred anxiously and groaned in pain. Eventually recovery mode kicked, and there was a unanimous movement to clean things up and seek out medical attention. She had helped into the wee hours of the mornings, offering help, one of the lucky ones, unscathed.
By the time she returned to her room, it was all she could do to clamber into bed and fall asleep, ignoring the mess that was her own room. When she awoke, she first thought of the Golden Apple. It was going to be a disaster area, and so she quickly cleaned up herself and made a beeline for the boutique. It wasn't as terrible as she imagined, but it wasn't pretty, either. She only paused to hear the less-than-comforting announcement from the cruise director, and then returned to the project at hand.
It was an honest attempt to focus her mind, but the words of the cruise director echoed in her head. People were missing, communication was cut off... face it. They were fucked. And had anyone seen that the clocks no longer worked? She couldn't focus enough to clean, and her stomach rumbled in protest. The last thing it had digested had been some fruity drink... she needed food.
Entering Circean Delight, she wasn't quite sure she was up for eating, despite her hunger. Lottie took a seat at one of the many empty tables, and pressed her chin to steepled fingers. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to ignore the chaos, confusion, and fear surrounding her and just be. Thankfully there was the light hum of workers in the kitchen to distract her from haunting thoughts.