#aeryn.

[halfhells-remade]

THE ORDER OF THE NEW DAWN   →  THE MERCIER FAMILY  

[neuroweird]

Aeryn, prompt: Angrily talking to herself while brushing knots out of her hair

Send me a character & a sentence prompt for a drabble/para response.

The sound the brush makes is making her clench her jaw tighter with each pass she makes. It’s an unpleasant ripping sound, and this time she clenches her jaw so tightly that pain flashes through the left side, prompting a slight yelp of discomfort. For thirty long seconds Aeryn doesn’t move, just trying to breathe through the sickening feeling that something horrible will happen if she doesn’t repeat the noise she just made.

Ultimately compulsion wins, and she quietly utters the whimper-yelp a couple more times before she’s satisfied. The dancer takes a deep breath and carefully places her brush on the vanity so that she can take a quick break. She rubs at her sore jaw, still taking deep breaths and decides if she’s going to get anything done she’s going to need to play some music. Helen encourages her to try to function without it, but sometimes it feels like a three way ultimatum and the girl just doesn’t want to deal with that.

Music - Compulsions - Heroin.

Music is probably the safest bet. At least that way she won’t bruise herself or repeat offensive words to avoid the asphyxiating anxiety that consumes her if she doesn’t.

      ❝ This shouldn’t be so hard. I went three hours without music yesterday. But today? Can bare--bare--barely go ten minutes. ❞  

Her words are a quiet grumble as she fetches her iPod from her bag. One of her fellow dancers, and neighbours, Lisa, tells Aeryn she’s too hard on herself, and she’s sure she’s right, but it’s hard not to be when progress and health feel so attainable, only to slip. A good week is going a few hours every day without needing music to calm the compulsions, a bad week is when she can barely function in a conversation without her vocal tics making talking a nightmare.

She sits back down at the vanity, plugging in her iPod to the small speaker next to her jewelry kit and puts on a comfortable instrumental. The sound doesn’t need to be very loud for it to have its effect, and within a minute Aeryn feels relaxed enough to resume brushing her hair. 

      ❝ I really should ask Denise how she manages to get her hair done so fast... I’m probably ripping out hairs with every pass... ❞

Aeryn finds herself grimacing at the idea, and reaches for the ‘detangling’ spray once again. It helps a little bit, but the ripping sound doesn’t quite abate. 

      ❝ You’ve gotta wear your hair down, it’s sexier like that-- ❞

Her parody of the club’s manager is one the other girls are sure to laugh at, tone almost perfect matching the owner’s niece’s borderline nasil voice. Though for all her efforts, the tangles finally come out, and Aeryn gives a gleeful sigh before carefully twisting two french braids into her already dark, wavy hair. The girl stares down at her hairbrush, glowering as she stands up.

      ❝ I do not look forward to the next time we have to meet like this. ❞