⇀

"when'd ya think he gon' come outta his hidey hole?" persie asked, taking her time in picking a card from roselyn's rather vast hand. oceans had less acres of covered area than the amount of cards she had. the young woman cursed her bad luck with hand-held games in her head.

"you can swear if ya want. i don't got a problem with a wee bit of sailor tongue. speak it myself sometimes." persie laughed. "'specially when saoirse scolds me for sometin' i didn't do."

roselyn's heart palpitated strangely for a second, "how'd you know i wanted to curse?"

persie stared at roselyn for a few seconds in silence before flicking her long, calloused fingers against roselyn's forehead. roselyn felt a rush of embarrassment as quick as the tide. she immediately attempted to cover her forehead with her raggedy bangs.

persie became expressionless, "i wasn't pointin' out yer acne spots, love. just the crinkle between yer eyes. i notice lotsa people get that when dey wanna curse."

roselyn grew quiet, her hands still glued to the roots of her unruly hair. persie sighed and took a card from the deck in between them.

as the game went on, the atmosphere gradually became significantly lighter than before. almost as if a stone had stopped crushing the air in roselyn's lungs. she coughed instinctively and shook her head at the unfortunate wonderment of the human tendency to be anxious. what was there to be anxious about?

"when'd ya think he gon' come outta his hidey hole, rosie?" persie asked.

roselyn pouted slightly when persie drew the card she needed for a run. it took a couple minutes for the question to register in her distracted psyche as she reached for the abundant stack of cards.

"what do you mean?" roselyn asked in turn, succumbing to a yawn. she did find it strange that she had seen no signs whatsoever of a male presence in the house, even though it had been three days. roselyn frowned, a bit perplexed as to whether it was a part of the competition for the male to be absent.

"py don't seem like the type ta come out often. i saw 'im once and that was it." persie answered, eyes scanning her cards thoughtfully. "you thought it strange too, huh? that you haven't met 'im yet."

"i am a little confused, but maybe that's on purpose? this is a competition after all. anyway, what's he look like?" roselyn asked. 

"someone i'd divorce two months into marriage." persie laughed. it was a crinkled laugh, a badly-made paper crane laugh. it was a strange sound that seemed like it was a mask for something else. something that roselyn wouldn't put past her as sinister. roselyn grimaced when she realized how extensively persie's laugh resembled gargling. 

"i mean, that's probably what i'm going to do anyway, whether or not he's attractive." roselyn commented. "i never wanted to marry in the first place. or at least, not a man."

"i wouldn't talk like that, miss darcy." a voice that sounded like vanilla waltzed into the room from the kitchen, along with its red-haired owner. saoirse's hair was draped across her shoulders, frizzy and sopping wet. mascara ran down her blushing cheeks as if her childhood love had run off with her younger sister.

tragic, roselyn thought. how very tragic.

"as long as py dwells here, do not speak that way. he can hear you." saoirse said, a perturbing calm atmosphere surrounded her, accentuated by her excellent posture.

"doubt it." persie said, eyes rolling in exasperation. roselyn frowned. the korean girl's eyes had changed; they'd become dilated and predatorial.

saoirse glared at her, "i wouldn't be surprised if you woke up soaked in your blood tomorrow morning."

"what? why my blood and not my piss?" persie asked, attention now drawn away from her cards and glued to the irishwoman standing in the doorway. she had a challenging smile on her lips.

confusion morphed into shock as it swam in saoirse's mouth. her expression continually changed as she began to realize what had been uttered from between her red lips. 

"i meant that metaphorically, of course." she said, forcing out whatever composure had been left.

"how do you mean somethin' like that metaphorically?" persie scoffed. "yer a creepy one, byrne. creepier 'dan me maybe."

saoirse's teeth made a grinding noise as she turned to walk back into the kitchen.

"you shouldn't provoke her, persephone. i may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but my mother would come back from the grave to haunt me if i didn't know how to observe a character." roselyn said quietly.

"and what do you observe of miss saoirse byrne?" persie asked.

"i think she just wants to keep us alive. i don't know why, but there's something desperate in her eyes. she means well."

persie shrugged, "this place's called the Morgue. don't think there's much to do to stay breathin' in a house of death."