Re: [B&B: Nishka and Atticus]
Nish hesitated a moment, perhaps a little too long, before nodding at the offer of beer. She really shouldn't have any, she'd just taken heart medication, but she'd never been able to say no to an offered drink. Especially in her current state of mind. "Thanks," she said finally with a hint of a smile, following him deeper into the kitchen. She shook her head when he asked about smoking, noting with a slight jolt of recognition that the pack of smokes he'd tossed on the counter was the same brand James had favoured. She was so distracted by her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed Atticus' odd glances over her shoulder.
"Nishka," she replied, forcing another smile and taking a sip of beer. She hadn't notice she'd been nursing her injured side until he mentioned it, and slowly moved her hand away. "Yeah," she replied with a slight frown. "Bad one, two months ago. But...I'm getting better." It was a lie. Her body may be healing just fine, according to the doctors, but the rest of her felt like a festering, gaping wound. It was as if the reminder of what she'd lost was following her around everywhere, pretending her from healing, at least until she found her answers. And justice.
She took another drink. "So...is this place really haunted?" she asked, trying to make it sound like a joke, but probably failing, "or is that just how you draw tourists to pay the bills?"