This isn't puberty

It was a lot later at night than Illiana would normally risk going out at without a set destination but she was running hard in an effort to get the blood flowing. Since she'd taken some advice and started cutting back on her reliance on the painkillers her old doctor had prescribed the headaches had stopped coming as often, but they were still as painful as ever. It meant she'd had to figure out another way to clear her head, ride the pain out for as long as she could before succumbing to a restless sleep or the sweet forgiveness of the pill yet again. Running was just one of those ways she'd found worked best, it was a lot harder to focus on the pain throbbing through your head when your legs ached and your lungs strained on the cold winter's air.

Tonight the headache had come a lot later than normal and the painful throbbing took any thought of food or rest from the young woman's mind. She'd gotten so used to running when this started that it'd been almost automatic the way she'd put on warm clothing, good shoes, just run out the door and not stopped. It was mind numbing work, exactly what she needed, but eventually her mind would snap back and she'd have to head back to the motel she'd been staying in to either give in and medicate or just pass out. Today was a bit different however. This time when she stopped, taking a moment to lean against a park bench at a small that only contained a bit of grass and a stunted tree, the pain had taken on such a sharp, stabbing feeling in the left side of her head that she couldn't help but place her hand there almost as though expecting to find something sticking out.

It turned out that it was a good thing the bench was there as Illy's legs soon gave out beneath her and she had to pull herself up into a seated position just so she could feel stable again. There was small sharp something sticking out of the side of her head, not from an external blow either as it seemed to be slowly moving outward. Very slowly in fact, though what exactly it was, was a little hard to determine out here in the dark. If anything she had to make it back to the motel to get a good look in the mirror nut that wasn't her only worry. Whatever it was had broken skin, lacing the hair on the left side of the girl's head with fresh blood that, while it didn't seem to be flowing anymore, now caked her hair and the side of her face in an undeniably unpleasant feeling.

Illiana pushed her hair back a bit and tried to wipe some of it off, only making her glove messy too and cursed her luck. She was a good ten or fifteen minutes out from where she was staying and it would be an unpleasant walk back. She wasn't sure she could run right now as she was quite unbalanced by the feeling and her headache, the latter of which she noticed had lessened slightly. It was still bad, bad enough she was still craving the sweet release of her painkillers back at the place, but she didn't know if she was in any condition to walk right now. Standing made her head spin and while the night did seem to be coming up a bit sharper now, something she attributed to the lessened pain, it was still dark. The only saving grace was that no one would question her about the blood, no regular human would even notice. Maybe she could just rest here for a moment before setting out, at least until she felt a little bit more alive that is.

It seemed even the light hope of being able to rest a moment would soon be stolen away from Illy as another girl, somewhat younger than she, appeared out of the darkness and seemed to lock onto her presence almost immediately. It was like she was setting off some sort of beacon that said 'I'm here, come and pester me' or something. Though if that were the case others would turn up soon, so she could only hope it was all in her head. Dealing with too many people while she was like this didn't sound like a good idea.

"What is it with this country and all the people who can see me anyway?" a part of her wondered idly, "Maybe it was just how mum had us always moving? There seemed to be a lot less of them around back then."

Illiana tried to look the girl's way but her eyes wouldn't focus, it was like left eye lit the night up like it was day, which was counterproductive to the headache, while the right was looking on normally. It was hard to see while keeping them both open so she close one, plunging her vision into the darkness again. If Zero were quick she might notice that the left eye was glowing slightly from within before Illy closed it.

It took the girl a few moments to gather her thoughts, all the while keeping her hand to the side of her head to try and obscure the weird growth on the side of her head, before finally feeling well enough to respond slightly.

I can assure you I was feeling much better when I left my place earlier." she replied slowly, the fake calmness in her voice quite evident even to her. "And in case it wasn't obvious, I'm waiting for the world to stop spinning." she added, wincing a little as she sat up straighter. "I'll get myself home soon enough , don't you worry."

As if to emphasise her point Illiana put her hand to the seat and pusher herself to her feet again, only to stand there breathing hard for a moment before giving in and collapsing back onto the seat again, head spinning. It took a few hard gulps of air before she was able to stop the spinning again and sighed to herself, leaning back in defeat. Tonight really was not her night.

Zero takes one, maybe two steps back and pulls herself to her full height as Illiana’s raises from the bench as not to be struck by the girl - she had been rather close. She didn’t think the girl was in any condition to walk off, but she had said nothing and opted to watch her attempt to leave instead. As she had thought, the slightly older female wasn’t even able to take a step nonetheless stand up before collapsing. It amused Zero greatly, and it took a lot to fight the urge to grin and feign concern. She manages somehow, just like she manages to avoid sarcastically restating the girl’s claim. Instead of mocking her, she says:

“Neh, maybe should call ambulance. Ya not doing to hot.”

She tilts her head to the left as she examines Illiana. It didn’t necessarily look like the girl would be able to muster the strength to return to her residence or takes herself to the hospital anytime soon. Zero could definitely help her out and running away really wasn’t an option for said girl which meant she could ask as many questions as she liked - rather or not she got suitable answers was an entirely different story. However, she had been surprised by people before and maybe the constant sound of her voice would be enough reason for the girl to ignore whatever pain she was going through in order to get away. Beside that point, her plan was brilliant.

“Unless ya don’t like doctors which is perfectly normal. I take ya home if ya show me way if that the case. What ya say, miss?”

"What?" Illiana asked woozily, unsure she'd heard the other girl right, "An ambulance? No, no, I don't think that'd help. I don't think I could even afford it either..." she drifted off, both eyes closing as she leaned against the chair, breathing slowly.

"Doctors are good, it's just that not all of them can really help me. Its... spiritual in nature. If you can see me without glazing over you're either very attentive or you know what I mean."

Opening her eye again to try and get a better look at the girl again Illy nodded slightly, stopping almost immediately with a grimace as her head revolted against the movements. "If you're really offering it, I won't say no." she admit, holding her hand out in hopes that the girl was serious about helping.

"It's just a motel a few blocks away, not too far away but." the young woman gulped lightly, ready to stand as soon as she was sure she'd have the support. "I don't think I'm going to be moving very fast, sorry."

As soon as Zero helped her up Illiana would end up putting a lot of her weight on the younger girl, draping her right arm over her shoulders to keep the blood from her gloved hand and head away, part in an effort to avoid smearing it on the girl, part because she still wanted to hide it. She still wasn't sure what exactly was going on. Her head was aching, though part of it was clear after the horn had escaped her head. Illy wasn't too sure if her medicine would even help with such a change but it was the only option she had at the time.

"I've got some medicine that should help me recover, mostly at least. Hopefully its enough."

“Ya can count on me!”

Zero chirps, the ill placed teen giving the jogger a quick salute before taking her hand and assisting her to her feet. The sudden weight that’s pressed upon the red-eyed teen causes only the smallest stumble, but a quick readjustment of where all her own weight went fixed that issue. Or, at least the teen was pretty sure that her companion wouldn’t end up on the ground. She knew the first couple steps would be awkward as the two worked together in order to get a rhythm going, but once they achieved it she had no doubt she could deliver the slightly older girl to her residence.

“I’m Zero, by the way! Now, where lead the way, Miss… uh… what’s ya name?”

She says as she turns her head in such a way that she has a clear view of the jogger’s face. There she waits until she receives her first instructions, the teen only seeking the name of the stranger more out of formality than genuine curiosity thus she didn’t really care if she got the girl’s name - she was happy with calling her Miss. However, she would be the first to admit that it was always nice to have the name of the person who you were going to annoy.

Normally trusting a complete stranger like this would go against Illiana's nature, though this had been changing more and more as of recent times. Without her mother's somewhat smothering protection the young woman was being forced to rely on others more than she had ever before, but no situation before now could really compare to this one. Here she was draped over a girl she'd just met, trying to give directions back to a motel and desperately hoping she wasn't making wrong turns in the dark.

"Thank you for this." she said slowly, pausing to take a deep breath "I'm sorry to impose so much on your time. I'm Lilly, I'd say it's nice to meet you but..."

She went silent again then, breathing heavily with a grimace on her face as they continued to walk. The best she could do for the first few minutes was try and direct her helper in the right direction. Illy pointed into the dark and mostly stuck to the somewhat active streets which meant she wasn't about to get them lost, though there was the off chance she'd miss a turnoff when they got to it later on.

"I don't know if this is a good change to my health or bad." she mumbled out loud eventually, not even sure Zero would care to listen, "I was expecting some changes but this is more than I ever could have imagined."

It was odd how excited Zero could become over the most simplest task or oddest moments such as this one. Typically, people would view this as themselves simply doing a civic duty by transporting the ill girl back to her residence. Others might have done it out of pity or to get something in return for their services. But the red-eyed teen decided to make sure the newly dubbed Lilly got home safely so that she could ‘interrogate’ the poor girl about the whereabouts of a certain doll. Selfish? Just a little bit, but that was really no surprise. However, she was pretty decent at concealing ulterior motives and Lilly probably didn’t care enough to question her further.

“No problem, Lilly! This is what a good samaritan does, right?”

She chirps as she proceeds to follow Lilly’s direction. It’s just a little awkward to walk whilst supporting somebody else, but Zero doesn’t mention anything as she focuses on ensuring the two didn’t become one with the ground. However, she still managed to hear the mumbles of her companion, mumbles she was certain she wasn’t suppose to hear. With her curiosity piqued, instead of simply ignoring them out of respect, she says, rather loudly:

“What ya mean by changes, Miss?

Illiana couldn't help but laugh at Zero's comment, part because of just how energetic and kind the girl seemed to be, and part because it'd been a while since she'd met someone who actually used that term. It just wasn't that common anymore.

"Ow, please don't make me laugh. It feels like my brains rattling around in my skull when I do that." She complained, forcing down a bit of a laugh that was caused by her own words. Maybe it was the pain talking but feel giggly over even a simple statement like that.

The two continued to shuffle along to Illy's vague and sometimes incoherent directions when Zero asked a question that Illiana wasn't entirely sure how to answer. It was a somewhat private matter after all and after so long relying on her mother she wasn't too sure what she should and should not reveal to strangers. Living alone was one thing but trying to figure out how to handle people? It was asking a bit too much.

"I don't really know." she admit, doing her best to focus through the headache and not say anything she didn't want to reveal. "The doctor explained it as a build-up of spiritual energy, but not normal spiritual energy. It's something foreign to me so it causes my headaches. I have something that suppresses it but they said I should try and stop taking it so my body just gets used to it. So I did but."

Illy drifted off at that, unsure what else to say. The headache and the effect it was having on her body were pretty clear to the other girl if she wanted to look, though it was dark when the two met so there was no way to know for sure what Zero had even seen.

Zero gives Illiana an understanding nod, though she had never been in the situation before. To be frank, she believed the girl’s doctor to be rather stupid to suggest going off the meds that suppressed the jogger’s debilitating headaches in favour of getting her body use to the pain. Medicine had come far from what she read, so why not use that advanced medicine if it helped more than hindered? She didn’t understand, it was like the girl’s doctor was setting her up to be a damsel in distress. So much so that the red-eyed teen couldn’t help but say so:

“Ya doctor must be crazy. Em headaches leave ya like one of em damsels in distress. Not bad thing, but really annoying if ya gotta run away from crazy things.”

She waves her hand almost dismissively, though she ensures she doesn’t jostle her companion enough to aggravate the pounding headache. After all, it would not be within her best interest to worsen the girl’s headache if she wished to interrogate said girl later on without receiving incoherent answers in return. Either way, she grins, stealing a quick peek at Illiana before saying out of curiosity:

“Tis a good thing I showed up, neh? What would ya have done otherwise?”