Vanya, by contrast, is running late. It really was hard to get out of bed, in a way it hasn't been in a while for her. The schedule of rehearsal and lessons had helped to fill in the gaps when she slipped away from therapy: now she has neither, and the lack is already easy to feel.

She destroyed a planet. She almost killed her brothers. She finally played her solo. She could have killed Allison.

All of it keeps running through her head, with no release; it makes her ear hurt more, and that - Jesus, that she's been too afraid to really look at. Too afraid to test. She snapped once, the first night back in Maurtia Falls, directly outside her ear. It sounded dull and muted, and her stomach dropped out from under her at the idea that she might not have heard it at all if she'd had an ear plug in her left ear. That was the first night she'd tried to get trashed, and she regretted the very cheap bottle of wine she'd managed to find by morning.

Getting out of bed is hard: getting ready is harder. She brushes her hair, finds something clean to wear. It's like going through the motions, but an alien has replaced her in the process: it feels wrong, even while it feels right. She tries not to think.

So by the time she reaches teh restaurant, she's already a few minutes late, speed walking through the sidewalks with her head down to avoid anyone who might have a curious work to say.

"Hey. Sorry."