Watch out!

[the voice is gentle, but her warning is real, coming probably just a second before the chandelier makes contact with the ground. Helena knows by now the faint tinkling of crystal that precedes the drop, the loud crash of the fall, knows to turn away so no small shards fly out and scratch her. oh, but she hates sharp things where she doesn’t expect them, and can’t imagine it’s pleasant for anyone else to be caught in flying pieces. but the voice singing in the aftermath – she can’t pin it to a direction, so it’s fruitless to search. instead, there’s only the other, who she carefully moves over towards, cane delicately tapping her way through.]

...Are you all right?

[hopefully they heard her in time to avoid injury.]

[it smells strange, is Helena’s honest impression at first. that’s probably the fog machine, hissing away while other devices cackle and groan in their recorded fashion, adding an interesting backdrop while she feels the clothing up for grabs. the slippery texture of satin, the roughness of cheap lace, and the plastic edging of false leather. all different, all curious. some certainly have to be for particular purposes, others too scratchy to be fun, but this one…hm. pulling the velvet dress off the rack, it has a nice weight to it. it might fit, though she knows it won’t be that warm.]

What do you think of this one? How is it?

[the question is addressed to whoever stepped into the costume section nearest her, and she holds it out in (hopefully) their direction. the dress is supposedly for a vampire queen, red and black – cape included in the set. at least it’s modest, unlike some of the costumes in the packages. help her out, talk her into something else, get jumpscared by the giant mechanical spider that’s about to go off in fifteen seconds next to you?]

[if there’s a place Helena will be happiest, it’s surrounded by literature. that most of it is hard to decipher is no problem, because the part of it that is speaks to her heart. fiction grips her, keeps her in its sway, and she curls up with a few to pass the time away. mysteries, romance, all the things she wants to read about she can, and so she does, fingers flying across the pages the more engaged she gets.

but time does take its toll, and a whole morning spent in one place has its drawbacks. when she surfaces from the book enough to notice, her stomach makes a growl, and she frowns.]

Stop that…

[it’s a quiet admonishment to herself, but it puts up another one, shorter. she can put up with it for just a moment longer, just long enough to finish this chapter – the build up is far too good to put down for a little grumbling.]

[have another idea of what to do? go for it! she can be anywhere and everywhere.]