#elsewhere

Euphoia she asked for, and Euphoria she got. She vaguely remembers singing Magic Carpet Ride by the shore of the lake in duet with her reflection just for shits and giggles

It was a welcome release

Piper wakes in a bungalow of her own, not too big, but someone left a navajo style blanket , some wind chimes tinkle lightly, the bed sheets are clean, the matress small but comfy

And outside, she hears music, sweet and pure

Piper pulls the blanket over her head. The Joy of the night before has faded, leaving a sweet ache behind. Music, normally most welcome, is a reminder that she has to wake up again, and she burrows deeper into the mattress to hide from morning, IS it Morning? Afternoon? Who knows?

Who knows indeed? The song ends and there's a soft fluttering sound, and she's left be.. for a time..

But an hour later, and her stomach bitches. Satyr does not live on Molly, nachos, and booze alone

Certainly she's thirsty. She'd forgotten that part. Flying high leaves you dehydrated, and before anything else, she needs a drink. Sticky eyed, sweaty from the night's dancing - maybe a shower, or at the very least, a dip in the lake? If only it was sun-warmed salt water...

Alas, sunwarmed Fresh water would have to do, but she does find a wash basin with small towel and soap if she wants, and there's probably a shower stall somehwere out there for those who don't clean by lake

Hey, a small fridge here.. with bottled water

A grateful interlude to chug, dampen a towel and wipe off her face, and run her hands through her messy hair. Might be time for a cut, those curls are getting long and troublesome again. Then, to brave the outside.

HISSS... the light, it burns usssss

okay, her eyes adjust

Okay, one step at a time. Water, a bit of washing - now to find a familiar face, maybe a granola bar to settle her stomach.

She sees an Eshu woman in a sarong heading towards the lake, the woman sees her as well, smiles and waves but keeps going towards the lake

Rapelling up a wall with some kind of steam punk device of mechanical spider legs, is a male nocker. Neither she's seen before

Oh, and there's Sheriff Sam

Okay, the nocker is cool. She waves to the Sheriff, and heads towards the Eshu lady. "Hey... mind if I join you? I was thinking about a dip."

"If you don't mind seeing a little flesh" She begins to take off her Sarong. Sam politely averts his eyes, she rolls hers "The Sheriff's such a dear isn't he?" She's clearly comfortable in her body as she starts to get into the water, it soon going past her hips "I'm Njeri by the way."

"Not if you don't mind the same." She blows a cheeky kiss towards Sam, before stripping off the sweaty clothes she fell asleep in the night before. "I love seeing that kind of shy blush. I'm Piper. Were you at the party last night? It was a bit of a blur."

Ducking down, she gives her hair a quick swish through the water, and pops back up with an exclamation. "Brr!" Not as cold as it could be, refreshing!

"Only on the edges," Njeri admits "And only for an hour at most. Heard the song though. You've got a great voice, PIper"

Brisk or not, it feels good to get yesterday's sweat off her skin.

"Thanks... sometimes I feel like a singing bird in a cage though. Coming on towards Samhain, I wonder what I've been doing with... everything." An envious glance over at Njeri. "What's it like, being a traveler?"

"For an eshu? it's like breathing, we just do it. We see a horizon and suddenly we're exploring it" Njeri has gone just a bit deeper, not for modesty but because she enjoys treading the water in place, "But in general? It has it's good and bads. It broadens the mind, but you run the risk of clashing with the narrow minded, it helps you make new friends, but you are also very much on your own and the lonleiness that can arise can be saddening, and the lack of a social safety net has its risks. Most of we Eshu will tell you it's glorious, but I imagine most boggans would call it trying or Tedious. Ever there, there are exceptions to every kith. You feel you've done nothing productive?

"

"I've been working.. really working hard at making a new life for myself." She can't go as deep without treading water, but gladly lets the water lap around her shoulders. "Not that unusual here at the Lake it seems... everyone is running from something. I just start to wonder, what's the point? Digging in too deep, working yourself into a daily grind, you start to think, it's not so bad, but the one thing that snaps me out of it is how easily someone can hurt me once I let them in."

Njera look sympathetic, and curious "Sounds like there is a story there"

A sigh... "Not one I really wanted to think about. The party helped, but then there's the next morning. Are you sticking around for a while, or have another destination?"

"In a day or two I head off," Njeri shrugs "This is a good place to recharge, I've found. The Lake 's water is 10% tears some say, the only salt in it, but it's a good place to have a cry."

"or a laugh" A smile "or a hit of something that's probably outlawed, though Sam frowns on the hardest most addictive stuff"

"Addictive or not, sometimes it's what works, you know?"

"Temporary relief is fine, but not if it leads to long lasting chains. Freedom is important to Eshu," She shrugs elegantly

"Freedom..." She says, nodding. "To just set out on the road, with a song in your heart and knowing that even without a destination, your feet will take you to where you need to be."

"Well, I'm not that good a singer" Njeri answers

"Having a song in your heart doesn't rely on your voice. It's who you are." Smiling.

"Somehow I suspect you weren't talking about me anyway" The Eshu winks "It is your life, Piper. Only you can balance what you might gain against what you might lose"

"How do you know when it's time to move on? They say that Eshu are guided by their feet, but I think that's just a colloquialism... is it an actual tug, at your heart strings? An itch to travel? Or something more obvious, or less?"

She shifts in the water, hooves sinking in to the sand here, slipping a bit on smooth lake stones there, a bit of bobbing around.

"Fate and chance alike pull at my kith and our birtright, we are were we need to be... sometimes, OFTEN dramatically just in the nick of time. And the way we get to where we should be is often fraught with peril."

"It sounds nice. Like letting fate's river show you the course you need to take. Sometimes I just feel... adrift. In a pool with no waves to push or pull, no flow to guide me."

"Surely there must be something that you've done in the last year that made you feel purpose?"

"That was then. What's in front of me? Do I just settle in and decide to settle down? I can see a path laid out, and it's comfortable, but isn't that a trap all it's own? I had a bit of a rude awakening, something shook up domestic bliss... but maybe I should welcome it as a wake up call that I was getting stagnant."

"Maybe I need a quest... or just to travel. Or maybe I'll stick around here for a while, the folk are nice and I could make some new friends."

"Domestic bliss?" She arches a brow "please explain"

A deep frown. "I had a fight with one of my partners, and she's going to be stubborn and troll-headed about it. I guess if it wasn't this, it might have been something else, I mean, no relationships are WITHOUT arguments, but this one was a doozy."

"And she told you to get out?" A frown "That seems harsh of her"

"No,, I..." Piper frowns. "I don't want to talk about it." She ducks under the water, taking a moment to examine the lakebed.

The water is remarkably clear here, and yes, even fresh water lakes have shells. There's one that has a bit of it peeking out under blander covering, something that sparkles

It catches her eye, and she holds her breath, seeking the sparkly distraction.