recolle | [OPEN] Well, that's a problem

WHO: Elda Marker and YOU
WHERE: Garden Gate Farmer's Market, in and around the Marker manor, Towers (and most of Tisse by extension), the residential streets at night?
WHEN: Mid-June, as she gets a special gift
WHAT: Elda's received a new pair of eyes from Retrospec, and that's incredibly disturbing. Her various adventures in trying to get used to this and deal with the result of having red night-vision eyes.
WARNINGS: None worth noting, I think? Cranky 40 year old?

A) The Curious Incident of the Farmers Marker in the Morning

[ Our story begins one fateful day when, like any proper person who doesn't currently have a non-volunteer job but excess money, Elda Marker goes to the Farmers Market bright and early. Picking up a lot of fruits, some vegetables, hot peppers, and what else she can find (and what she can discern what with the lack of green here, it's kind of fucked up and she might be looking for some insights on that). She actually is getting a few flowers too! With two bags under her arms, the woman is humming a little as she's making her way back to the car to get back to the manor-

Until it happens.

Elda blinks, and once she opens her eyes again her previously dark brown eyes are now red. The burgandy orbs look widely around the area for a moment until - she shuts them as fast as possible and screams in pain. The light hurts? It's blinding, actually! The morning sun is- She drops all of her bags, and there's no way she's going to be able to drive. She's making a scene right now, her hands clutched over her face to try to block out the light - it's hurting even through her eyelids, causing her to tear up. ]

Arrgh... What the devil- Agh.

B) Home Is Where The ... Cats Are. Or something.

[ Somehow, someway, Elda will make it home even if she needed to walk there. It wasn't that far from the Farmers Marker to the manor. Once at her house, Elda... turns off all the lights. It's a bright summer day, and people who have known the woman knows that she lights to be outside on days like this but it's scaring her right now how much it hurts her eyes. Her house guests/son or anyone visiting the house will notice that the woman has turned off all the lights in the house and closed many of the curtains. The light even of the bulbs hurts her eyes a little... Man.

That said, later in the day you might find her outside of her house, on the front lawn. She is defiantly sunbathing in a light dress and wearing sunglasses and not a swimsuit (this is the front lawn, she's not a barbarian) but rather a loose summer dress. Her brown hair's tied back as well.

... Ugh, she should have gone on a run. This sucks, she feels so lazy. It's even hard to read. ]

C) Operation Classy Glassy

[ ... Also her only sunglasses are okay, but if they are going to be a regular fashion thing for her, as seems to be the case, she needs better ones. Or at least - no, actually definitely more than one pair. Still not trusting herself to drive on a Summers Day even with the sunglasses on, the woman instead calls a cab and takes it over to Tisse, where she's going to a variety of places to shop, but mostly focuses on the accessory section of Towers. Here, she's trying on all hella style. She's doing this and examining herself in the mirror, sometimes taking them off to lower the distortion, but wincing every time her new red eyes catch the light of the store. You know what, eventually she resorts to- ]

You there! I need some insight, come on over!

[ Conscripting outside help. ]

D) Gotta keep up the exercise somehow or another!

[ Something else Elda soon enough notices: ... She can see in the dark now. She has no idea how (it must be the eyes... did Retrospec give her night vision eyes or something?) and she has a great visual range than before, she's pretty sure. And you know what that means?

... It means that if she can't get her morning runs in, she's going to give herself some night runs.

Hopefully no one will find it strange to see a small 5' 40 year old woman jogging in the middle of the night, her red eyes wide to look around her. ... Hopefully none of you catch the moonlight or a street light reflecting off those eyes, it might look like the glow of a predator. But either way, she's sure.

Doing that. It's okay, she's learned a lot of self-defense. ]

[ Also if any of you want to do something else or a weirder prompt / have questions / just want to add me I guess feel free to talk to me at

bigdamnhero. Yep! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Different, huh... ]

... It's dark in here, isn't it? You can barely see?

I might be able to see a little more when my eyes adjust, but it's pretty dark in here.

[Who the hell could see in this besides a cat?]

I can read the titles on the spines of the books over there.

[ You know, that bookshelf on the far side of the room he probably cognitively knows is this, but he probably can't see.

She points at it ]

[...He pauses for a moment to try to make out where the bookshelf even is- he's not quite looking in the right spot- and then he realizes that it doesn't really matter, because what Elda just said is insane.]

What, do you have night vision now? Is that it?

[At the expense of sunlight being painful? What kind of bullshit is that?]

Have you remembered anything about this?

I don't know. Maybe?

[ To both questions, really. She narrows her eyes and... and she shakes her head ]

Every memory so far- one of them was as the sun was rising, but all of them were at night, now I think of it.

[That's concerning. If that's the case, will Elda just have to go full nocturnal? No, he doesn't really want to think about that.]

Maybe if you get some really dark sunglasses...

[Then she can match god damn Wesker on isolation hill over there.]

It might be good to just rest for now. This is the brightest part of the day.

I'm going to end up looking so pale!

[ Ugh, wait, no, she shouldn't speak that loud. It makes her head hurt. She groans and grips the side of it. Her ... her eyes still hurt. Like she might've strained the back end of it. ]

You can afford some spray tan. Maybe you just need a little time to adjust to it.

[He says that, sure, but he looks pretty concerned anyway.]

[ . . . ]

Don't look so scared, boy. I'm not dying.

...Yeah, yeah. I know. You're a big girl, you can handle it.

[He doesn't quite keep eye contact with Elda the entire time. What is he supposed to say, he's just worried? This is new, strange, and probably sort of scary for her? She's a grown ass woman. He should keep his mouth shut.]

[ It is scary. It's very, very scary. And she is about to say:

"Don't mouth off to your mother-"

Until she realizes... ah. ]

I am, but I appreciate all your help.

...Just let me know if you need anything, okay? You don't have to deal with this stuff alone.

[Which is implying that Elda doesn't have any friends, but hey. It's also one of the most genuine sentiments he's said in a while.]

[ Wow don't insult her and be reassuring at the same time that's weird!!

... But she... ]

Does that mean you'll tell me what you've been going through?

...Well, graduation's tomorrow.

[That's not what Elda meant and they both know it.]

A lot's going on that I don't understand, and it all involves weird magic animals. That's all I've got.

Oh I know! I'm going, after all.

[ To graduation... ]

Aaaah, it's so strange how they're all different. Magic animals?

Yeah. I don't think I've seen a single normal animal in any of my memories, actually.

... Oh, what if you're a space alien in them?

[ LOGIC ]

...If I'm a space alien, I'm missing out on all the cool alien stuff, like six arms or purple skin.

Well, no one said that aliens had to be little green men. If you listen to that gentleman with the afro, they're winged people, right? They showed up in ancient Persia.