"No basement, no robbing you of everything you own. Seems easy enough." Emilia said with a nod, looking around. "Which way to the bathroom?" She asked, after stepping off and realizing she had no clue where to go. At this point, her brain was catching up with the events, the primary thought in her head being 'I need to text Caleb'. Followed quickly by the gnawing hunger in her stomach she was doing her best to ignore. All she needed was a glass of water. Water would be fine. Water would be enough to push back the hunger until she absolutely needed to eat. She couldn't eat here.
Adam smiled at their plants, and turned to face Emilia. “Go down the hall, past the greenhouse, and through the yellow door.” they said, not really paying attention. It was nice to have some friendly company for once, or at least company that wouldn’t attack it on sight. Adam blinked, turning to face Emilia. “Plug your ears passing the greenhouse, the Siren Sunflowers are especially active this season and I don’t want you getting torn to shreds.”
"Good to know." Emilia said, words accompanied by a snort as she tucked the clothes under her arm. "I'll see you in a bit, then." With that, she left to follow the directions to the bathroom, already looking forward to getting out of her dirty clothing. She followed the instructions to cover her ears, making it past the greenhouse in one piece.
Once she reached the bathroom, she set the clothes on the counter, locking the door out of habit. When she finally made it into the warm water, she let out a long sigh. The screaming in her muscles eased in the water. Though she kept her injured arm out of the direct water, she still made sure to wash the blood from the wound, gaze slightly unfocused as she blocked out the pain and instead focused on the water.
Emilia didn't take too long, stepping out and grabbing the nearest towel after turning the water off. Leaving her hair to air dry while braided, she dried off, pulling on the clean clothes. The pants were a bit long. By the time she was dressed, she had rolled them up over five times, and ended up having to loosely tie up the shirt. Not high enough to show skin–skin meant showing her figure–but just high enough that it didn't fall in the way.
She did eventually make it back out, her dirty clothes wrapped up neatly in a ball inside of the turned inside out pants. "Uh….do you have like, a plastic bag or something? Like a left over grocery bag? I don't want to set these anywhere."
“I don’t keep plastic here. Sorry. There are some paper bags in the kitchen, feel free to take anything you need from there. Again, within reason.” they said, setting out a dish on the doorstep for it’s Oracle friend’s cat. She rarely remembered to feed the cat, let alone herself (if she ever did, if she ever needed to), so Adam took the liberty of taking care of the cat themself. Besides, cats were good auspices, and they were usually quite sweet, good companions over all. And Cat, the cat, was a very good cat.
"Paper works just fine." Emmy said, relief sparking in her smile. It didn't matter what she used, as long as there was something. She slipped into the kitchen, grabbing a paper bag and shoving the wad of clothing into it. All of her belongings had already been transferred into the pockets of the pants she was wearing now, her phone and blade included. With that, she headed back to the living room.
"Guess it's your turn now." Referring to showering, she eyed the mess covering Adam's form. She took a seat on the closest surface she could, looking slightly uncomfortable. She had never done well relaxing in other peoples' homes. "I like the plants. I'd grow some of my own, but I don't know if I have the time to take care of them."
“You can always visit here and I can show you how to take care of these ones.” Adam said in a flight of fancy, or whatever was the proper phrase for it. The basis of it was, Adam was far too monstrous and horrible for anyone to stay around long, let alone too dangerous. But… maybe this human was kind. Maybe she would…. no, she wouldn’t. Nobody ever stayed, except the Oracle. But Oracles were special cases, too inhuman to count.
“They are uncommon plants, but they are good ones to know your way around, in case of an emergency. You’ve defeated a monster now, you should at least know how to cultivate some Angelic Lavender to keep yourself safe,” it said.
At the invitation, Emmy's eyes lit up. "That would be perfect! Then I wouldn't have to worry about them dying in my home, and I can learn about them." Bouncing slightly, her eyes flickered around all of the plants, visibly excited. "Is Angelic Lavender like normal lavenders? Just stronger? Lavender 2.0." Where Adam saw themself as monstrous, Emmy simply saw someone slightly different looking. She had seen so many honestly horrid looking creatures, had even sat down for coffee with some of them, that Adam's appearance couldn't really scare her that much. Actions, maybe, but that would depend. Life hadn't been too sweet to her, and surprising her might take a bit of effort.
"And technically you defeated the monster. All I did was yell at it. Speaking of, are you alright? You were kinda nastily knocked out of commission there for a bit."
“I’ll be fine,” they said, quite clearly lying. The wound had mostly stopped bleeding, but it was still surprising Adam hadn’t collapsed yet. “And I’d be glad to teach you about my plants. These beings, they hate lavender normally, but the Angelic variety is actively harmful to them. Corrodes and all that, peels away and shows the skin underneath.”
Emilia studied them for a moment, before placing her hands on her hips. "Why don't you tell me all about the coolest plants you know, while I deal with that injury. I want to hear about why it's called Angelic. But not until I have a first aid kit in my hand and you sitting down. I'm really damn sick of watching people die in front of me, so I'd like to not watch you do so tonight."
“I’m not going to die, I’ve endured far worse than this. I remember the time one bastard of a human shot me, I was fine then and I’ll be fine now.” Adam said, shrugging it’s shoulders. It didn’t really care, the Oracle would probably treat the wound either way as payment for taking care of her cat. They didn’t need help from someone who didn’t understand how sounds from monsters healed, even, these things took time and wouldn’t heal normally. The marks from the monster’s claws would burn away any bandage place on it, and any ointments to cure it would simply melt off. No, it was better to leave this alone.
“Let me see,” Adam said, deciding to humor the woman, “plants, you want to know about? Well, I named Angelic lavender myself, it’s a division I’ve cultivated myself over the last few hundred years. It took a while to get exactly right, but I managed. I call it Angelic for the properties it contains, it seems to hold more Spirit energy than most plants and combined with the lavender, it works very well against the beasts.”
"Fine, if you're going to be like that, at least sit down. You look like you can barely manage to stand." Emmy said, in a break between Adam's words. Still, she listened attentively, the idea of self bred plants interesting. It took her a moment to actually compute the mention of the last few centuries, and she blinked. "You're…centuries old? As in, old old? Damn." Slightly nonchalant, as it wasn't the weirdest part of this night, or the weirdest thing ever. Still, a tidbit to file away for questions.
“Only by about two hundred years. There are older immortals. I’m not even sure if I count as immortal or undead, come to think of it.” Adam said, seeming completely stumped for the first time in, well… a while, to be honest. They sat down, however, not wanting this human to worry.
“I don’t think I ever got your name. If you don’t mind telling me, of course, I’m sure it’s lovely.” they said softly.
((she did give her name just a bit ago!))
"Maybe it doesn't even matter." Emmy said, shrugging a shoulder. "They're both similar enough, right? Seems like if you weren't specifically told which, either works. Speaking of, how does all that work?" When Adam sat down, she smiled at them, looking slightly proud and grateful. "As for my name, call me Emmy. Short for Emilia, if you're fancy."
(Whoops lmao-)
“Well, some people are regular immortals, generally tasked with the maintenance or destruction of the world. Then there are immortals like me, who get to choose. I’ve dabbled in both, never liked the latter.” they said calmly. “And then the undead, which I might very well be if not for the mindlessness factor.”
“Emilia. A lovely name for a lovely person,” it smiled, looking a little grotesque as if their face was splitting in two.
Emilia huffed a laugh, shaking her head. Though the smile was a bit strange, it was still sweet, especially paired with the compliment. "My dad chose it, so he's really to thank there. Was, I guess. Does that mean the undead are all mindless? Like, zombie mindless?" She asked, interlacing her fingers and cracking them. The cut on her arm was bandaged with what had been the other sleeve of her hoodie, though washed and rung out in the sink to get rid of the creature's blood on it.
“Not incapable of thought. But they…. they don’t feel. I think it’s about glands. Really, I’d give anything not to feel like them, but it can’t be helped.” they said.
Adam stood up suddenly, ears perking up. “I hear something. We must have been followed.”
"Followed?" Emmy asked, lowering her voice. Shifting on her feet, she glanced to the windows and the door, sighing slightly. "There's really no end to it. Is it too much to ask the mystical powers that be to give me just a second to rest my ankle? God damn." She muttered to herself, slipping closer to the window and carefully glancing out. "Any ideas on where they are?"
“All I heard was the crunching of leaves. No animals around here except the Oracle’s cat, and the cat… well, the cat is usually silent. So it’s probably…. well, another monster.” Eden swallowed.
(I hope I’m not a bother, but I just wanna check in. It’s just been a while since you responded. Sorry!)
((no you're good!! studying for my ged kinda like fried my brain, and then get this. apparently you need a state issued id to take said tests, so now i'm studying for a whole new test to get my learner's permit. which i was planning to get AFTER i had officially ended any academic shit. so yeah, fried brain lmao. i'll try to be better about at least responding a couple times a day!))
"Okay. What can I do to keep you out of the way of any fighting?" Emmy asked, glancing to Adam. Her eyes flickered to the injury, before she focused back on the window. "Because there's no way I'm sitting by while someone who can barely stand deals with another one of those bastards."
“I don’t want you getting hurt, now stay back. I’ll be fine, I’ll scan the perimeter and figure out what to do once I’ve located the threat.” it said, moving towards the door. It walked out, and was immediately pounced upon by a cloaked figure, knife to the back of their neck. Adam groaned at the sudden contact, and yelped as it was pushed to the ground with great force.
Emmy snuck her switchblade from her pocket, rolling her eyes at the instruction. "Absolutely idiotic. This is how people die in horror movies." She muttered, not seeing Adam get attacked, but hearing the commotion. She whipped around at the yelp, heaving a sigh as though their lives weren't possibly in danger. "You know, this is why we don't split up. Can I help now? Strange mystery attacker, would you like to take a second to explain what the hell you're doing here?" Calling out, she moved slowly towards the door, doing her best to prepare for any sort of sudden attack.
“Aww, you have a human friend! She’s sooo cute, can I have her?” the being leapt off of Adam, moving to examine Emmy closely. They were fairly tall, but certainly much shorter than Adam, with skin the color of ink and thousands of eyes all over their body. “Cecelia, stop it. She isn’t for you, she’s for herself.” Adam groaned. “I’m glad it’s only you. Were you followed?” they asked, looking incredibly miffed.
“Ah, no. Well, I was, but it was just a Hunter and I killed the beast pretty quickly. People should learn not to mess with Watchers. Are you sure I can’t have the human?”
“I’m sure. Emilia, this is an idiot. Cece, meet Emilia.”
Emmy tilted her head, examining the being named 'Celia' with the same interest they showed her. "You have quite a few eyes. It's kind of cool." She said, lifting the hand holding her blade in a small wave. "Emilia, as I've been introduced. I assume you're friend enough to not be super wary around?" As she lowered her hand, she glanced to Adam, making it obvious the answer could come from anywhere. Tonight had to mark one of the weirdest nights she had experienced, veering far from the scariest. Just weird. She should have expected things like this to happen, things getting weirder, but a small part of her had hoped that her life would get a bit more normal. That was, apparently, asking too much. Vessels didn't get to live normal lives, apparently.
“See? She even likes me. Where’s that Oracle of yours? I need her help.” Cecelia asked.
“She isn’t around right now. You know how she is. Come in, I’ll make us some tea.” Adam said, looking overtired and worn. “Sorry about the injury, I had business.”
“I’ll heal it, friend. Come on, human, Adam makes the best wormgreen tea in, like, the universe.”
"I don't think I've ever heard of that type of tea." Emmy commented, dutifully following the many-eyed creature. She had to admit, they seemed friendly. They looked cool, and knew Adam, which put them on a list of people she felt she could trust. Considering her track record with new people, it took a familiarity with someone she knew was okay to even consider relaxing. "But trying new things is always fun. Most tea is new to me," She said, huffing a laugh. "To be entirely fair. I only just started drinking it, thanks to my dad."
