flamesburned | A Mall on the Mainland

It had been a very long and tiring week and Liz knew she still had a few more days to get through, when it eventually came to the anniversary of her family’s death. On Tuesday it was 14 years since her parents and brother had died in that first fire and she had been so tired and miserable, she knew she had to push herself, to keep going.

Liz had been so exhausted after Friday and the worry about the fires, even though they weren’t real, that she had finally fallen asleep Friday night and had slept for most of Saturday.

She was feeling a bit more alert but she was still rather tired.

Liz had been finding that her normal clothes were starting to get a little tight on her, she had definitely been noticing it in the last couple of weeks as her stomach had started to form a little bump. So arrangements had been made with Summer and Dr. Lecter to take her maternity clothes shopping on the mainland, especially to help keep her distracted while everything had been going on with the different anniversaries.

She really didn’t know a lot about shopping and fashion but she knew Summer and Dr. Lecter did, actually they were the only people she knew who knew anything about fashion.

“There’s, there’s a lot of people here,” she couldn’t help but remark as she looked around the mall, it had been a while since she had last gone shopping and had been around this many people.

She was still rather nervous about maternity clothes shopping but she knew it needed to be done, especially since her clothes weren’t going to fit her much longer.

{for the two who are with her on this trip! NFB due to distance!]

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It was</> good to see something on Liz's face that wasn't just a morose expression on the edge of tears for a change. Summer grinned over at her.

"Not gonna lie," she said, "picking out baby clothes is probably way more fun than maternity clothes, anyway."

There was a small smile back, “I’m not too sure what clothes I’m looking for,” Liz admitted, “Dr. Lecter thinks I might not have much luck finding anything leather but baby clothes shopping does sound like a lot of fun,”

"Even if we did find something in leather," said Summer, who figured there was at least plenty of vinyl or leather alternatives that might make an appearance, really, "I wouldn't exactly call that luck. That just sounds like it'll end up being uncomfortable, but, hey, what do I know? My body isn't the one going through rapid physical and hormonal changes at an extreme level on probably an hourly basis right now."

“I should probably stick to something that will be more comfortable,” Liz admitted, “with everything that’s been happening … I think maybe ...maybe that should be my focus," she paused, "even though I think I still want to stay with clothes that are blacks and dark blues," she considered.

"Well," stated Summer with a snort, "you just opened the door up for me to shove as many as pinks and pastels at you as humanly possible now."

There was only a pause, though, before she admitted, "Actually, probably not, dark colors really do suit you better; all that crap would just wash you right out, and with how little you've been eating and sleeping," cue the long, lingering, slightly-judgey, mostly-reprimand-y look over, "...you don't need to make it worse."

Liz managed to look very sheepish at that, “I slept most of yesterday?” she tried.

Which considering she’d gone nearly two days without sleep wasn’t really saying much.

“I … it was really bad for a while there and there’s still Tuesday to get through… that…I know that will be bad,” she admitted, “which I … I know I don’t have the best coping mechanisms,”

That was a very big understatement Liz.

"Liz," Summer leveled at her with a very dry tone. "I ran away to the mutant apocalypse and married a guy I'd just met who wore a bucket on his head because I couldn't deal with my parents getting a divorce, and even I think your coping mechanisms are shit."

And then there was a pause, as she went back to something else Liz had said and now looked over with some concern.

"What's Tuesday?"

Edited 2022-09-05 10:59 (UTC)

“Oh …I …I never told you did I?” Liz took a deep breath, “I …when it happened …Tuesday is 14 years since my …my parents and brother died …. “ she hesitated, “I …when they died in the fire after I lost control,” she paused, “I - I wasn’t able to acknowledge the anniversary last year because I was still in custody,” she said softly.

"Oh."

Yeah, Summer could maybe see why that might be a little rough.

She eyed Liz, head tilted slightly.

"You got any plans for it?"

“I …” Liz hesitated, still a bit unsure about mentioning Steven to Summer after everything that had happened, “I …I’m going to church Tuesday morning,” she said quietly, “the one in Fandom …Steven’s coming with me, I …after that I guess just try and keep as busy as I can?” she hadn’t really thought much about what she’d do after that.

"Well," Summer offered, who was more likely to judge Liz far more about the church part than the Steven part at this point (huuuuuge difference, between three weeks and three months, after all), but, like, it was fine? She got it? "I've got my community center class that evening, but if you want more company...we can't make a sangria night or anything out of it, obviously, but, I don't know, virgin margaritas or something? Or we could just chill. I do still owe you a pregnancy foot massage..."

“I’d like that,” Liz said softly, “I …I think Marc might stop by to check on me as well but I …I wouldn’t say no to more company,” she paused, “or a foot massage either,”

She still really liked the sound of that.

"I'll paint your toenails, too," Summer decided. "It'll be....therapeutic."

And a surprisingly healthy and reasonable coping mechanism considering both their histories with such things.

Liz gave a small smile at that, "that does sound nice," she said softly, "I think the last time I had my toenails painted was when we went to the space spa a few months ago," she realised.

"Mmmmmm," Summer closed her eyes a moment and hummed fondly at the memory of that last spa excursion. "That was a good trip. Hell, any visit to that place is good. That place is a goddamn galactic treasure."

A Mall on the Mainland - Sunday

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