"Miriam…she…she hasn't been getting better, I covered her in some damp clothing like Mom taught us and told her to get some rest but that was a little after you guys left" Basil explained. Victoria swopped in behind me, grabbing the bedding from Opal, Penelope, and the spot on the floor when I had dropped the blankets I'd been holding. I noticed how she'd fixed her tawny hair into a braid letting the faint light make her eyes sparkle a rainbow of greens and browns. She started to wash them in the fountain, Bear watched her, sitting like a cat on the edge of the fountain bed. Basil started to whisper to Penelope and Opal but I didn't care enough to pay attention to what they were saying. I took Miriam's hand in mine, my thumb traced circles around the back of her hand nervously. I got down on my knees so that I could watch over her better without having to deal with nearly falling over from my terrible crouching skills. My balance was either great or absolutely terrible which may not be a good thing but it caused some interesting situations. After a few moments I saw Bear and Victoria lay the bedding down, it was still pretty wet but should dry by the end of the day. "Hey Addie," Basil got down on his knees next to me "We're going to go out and explore some more, we'll try to not get lost or anything but do you want to stay here with Mir?" He asked me. I turned to him, not letting go of Miriam's hand "All of you?" I asked, Basil nodded "Yep, me, Opal, Bear, Victoria, and Penelope" He confirmed. I took out my knife, dropping my voice low "I'll stay back with Miriam. Take this, don't let Penelope get her hands on it though…I don't trust her" I admitted. "I won't," Basil assured me "I don't really trust her either" He agreed jokingly, taking the dagger and standing up. "Be safe!" I called out to the group as I left, taking the path behind the fountain. I felt a little bad for not trusting Penelope but I had a bit of an off feeling about her, she had saved me but…I didn't trust her enough to think it was any sort of a good idea to let her have a knife. I looked at the group, seeing that somebody, likely Basil, had bandaged up Penlope's ear with something. Likely another piece of clothing seeing as that was all we had. Speaking of clothing, this dress is hot as Hades. Once I get my dagger back, I think I'll cut some of the actual dress skirt part off, I am wearing shorts after all so I'll be fine. I watched the group leave down the hallway on my left, the opposite way from which me, Penelope, and Opal had come from a few moments ago. I turned back to Miriam, worried for her, her skin was warm to the touch…too warm. I frowned softly, moving her blue bangs away from her face, the dye was starting to fade causing the blue to become lighter and a lot less vibrant. It wasn't a bad look but I had a feeling Miriam wasn't too happy about it. My fingers traced along her coarse skin, she had always had clear skin compared to me but she had started to develop a few small bumps. I wondered how bad my acne had gotten, I didn't dare touch my own face and find out. If I was being honest, that was kind of something I'd stopped noticing after a while. I had always been the kind of person who had stopped caring about what others thought about how I looked, caring more about the way I felt about how I looked, I guess I had just stopped caring as to how other people looked too, as long as they were happy. There's a word for that right? Gods what is it? I think it's called being a nonconformist but I'm not sure so don't take my word for it. Mom always said that it would give me problems when I was older but I don't really agree with that. I mean I don't really care what people think about how I look or what I like, or what other people look and do for that matter. Or even what they identify as. We'll all look the same when we're dead and in a hundred years nobody will remember most of us so just go and be happy as long as you aren't hurting anyone or yourself. Oh yeah, and it can't affect me when I'm older because I'm probably not going to grow up. I laid down on the ground next to Miriam, the ground was cold, Miriam's hand being the only warmth. I got back up, moving to her other side so that Miriam's back was facing me. I got down, laying next to her in the sleeping bag. I didn't…have to, but I wrapped my arms around her torso, grateful that she was still alive. It was nice to hug her again after us all literally dying so many times I had lost count. And, yes it was just a hug, we're just friends. Slowly my breathing even out as I finally had a moment of peace…next to her, our bodies pressed against each other in a mildly protective way. I heard Miriam make a small noise of discomfort as she moved a little closer to me, her hand grabbing onto my wrist. "Mir? Are you okay?" I asked her "Y-Yeah…I'm so cold" She whispered "You're burning up" I told her. "I guess so…please don't move, so cold…you're warm" Miriam told me, I had a feeling that the fire that had burnt Miriam wasn't any normal fire. Any normal fire wouldn't have left her with such a nasty fever or engulfed her shoe so fast, I'm fairly certain that the heel of Miriam's shoes have a bit of metal in them. I think…I don't wear high heels. I don't know how people wear heels especially not the way Miriam does, somehow she runs faster than me in her heels and I once watched her do the Rasputin Just Dance in them. She almost kicked me in the face but it was really awesome. "Alright alright, just don't move too much, I don't want you to hurt yourself any more," I told her. After a few minutes, maybe ten or twenty, I could feel Miriam's fever getting worse. "Mir…your fever's getting worse…come on" I slowly moved away, getting up and lending my hand to help Miriam up. Miriam took my hand, wincing as I pulled her to a stand, I helped her over to the bed of the fountain. Miriam sat down, falling more than she actually sat. She rested her legs in the cold water, letting out a sigh of relief "Goddess above, that feels nice. Where is everyone else?" She asked "They went out into the maze, I decided to stay back with you" I explained. I almost blushed when I said that aloud, I was so worried about Miriam's state that I hadn't even thought of how it might seem. "Okay…are you okay?" Miriam asked, I noticed her gaze flicker down to my hands, I followed her gaze seeing that my hands were slightly red with small scratches on them. Honestly, that was pretty normal, I always had little scratches on my hands and knees, I was kind of clumsy. "Oh yeah, I musta scratched them on the floor back in the stone hall" I explained "The what?" Miriam asked. I smiled softly, starting to retell the things me, Opal, and Penelope had seen while we were out as Miriam listened closely, her feet moving back and forth in the water.
