|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:38 pm
He had been discharged from the infirmary. It had been impossible to re-attach his hand, his body had rejected it and Butch, despite his most earnest efforts (he had been so so happy to be back and deeply upset at the mess) had not succeeded in mending the damage. Lawrence was not upset, it was simply a fact, one less hand meant very little to him, he had learned far more difficult things with effort and practice than simply coping with a single hand. He did not feel crippled or hindered at all.
The pain as it had mended up had been a constant reminder of the world outside him. Sometimes he was certain he could still feel his fingers, that in itself was fascinating. He could see again. His weight had dropped a great deal, there were deep shadows under his eyes, but he was alive. As alive as he ever got.
His first destination was obvious, very obvious from the outset. He had one person he wanted to see before he was dragged into some other awful scenario he could not easily escape from.
He arrived at America's dorm, waited patiently for a moment, staring at the grain of the wood. He paused another moment, inhaling deeply of the smells of the basement itself - he was sure he could smell her scent on the air here, though he remained uncertain why he felt she had a scent at all - before delicately but firmly rapping his knuckles on the wood.
There was a glimmer of what brushed close to satisfaction at being here, at being back. For however long it lasted.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:54 pm
The door swung open, America already speaking, "Hey, you must be the new..." Noticing who it was, she cut off with startled. She hadn't seen him since the assembly, hadn't actually been this close to him since...
Did the game count? No, because it wasn't fully him. There'd been the buffer of false appearances. Did the hospital count, when he hadn't been able to get up, when his eyes couldn't fix on her, making her feel pinned and watched?
The truth, for her, is that this was the first time she'd truly stood toe to toe with him since her execution. Time and quiet had a way of softening things around the edges, making them less painful. The nightmares had tapered off since then. She could sleep alone without waking, expecting him to be kneeling above her, claws in her chest.
But for all the, seeing him here, in her space, and having his eyes on her had America frozen in place. Rage was not so far as she'd thought. Fear no longer mere memory.
Eventually, she remembered to breathe, and when she spoke it was with a shuddering sigh, "You look like s**t."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:47 am
He simply waited as she opened the door, eyeing her with those cold blue eyes, taking her in like a parched man finally permitted a drink. She had been impressive in the game, but was infinitely more impressive here, real, flawed and exactly how he wanted her to be.
There was a deliberate shift in his stance, followed by a change in his expression, a smile sidling onto his features. It was the first time he'd edged into Jan in a long time, and it was somehow warming, like life breathed into a long cold corpse.
"No kidding missy. I believe ah do." he said. "Ah've been on many trails and not many of them happy. But I made sure to make it back to you miss Theodorina. Because through it all, I couldn't forget ya."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 5:00 am
Theodorina.
It was always a sort of relief, when he reminded her to hate him. Not just be angry at him but to loathe his very existence. It had a way of narrowing things and making them simpler, easier to handle. Letting out a soft huff of incredulous laughter, America smiled at him in a barring of teeth, "Well, you can definitely forget Theodorina. That will never happen. I will never, ever become that woman."
Having regained her equilibrium, America gave him full look over, and it'd be a lie to say she didn't enjoy the proof of his unhappy trails. People like him should have terrible things happen to them. It meant the world was working as it should. Her eyes landed on where his hand should be, and her smile froze.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:30 pm
There was that long missed spark of pleasure from the way she looked at him, as if he was less than human, as if she hated him, and it made everything worth it. He had sacrificed nothing he cared for and yet had everything he had wanted.
"You were and are always that woman missy." he said "you just ain't realized it yet. Ah was reading that little old twitter thingymabob and it looks like you are already fallin' under the boot of someone familiar, someone real close to home. At least I'd tell it to ya straight. At least at the end of the line, ya could walk away from me."
Lawrence followed her gaze to where his hand had been and his smile broadened only further.
"Oh ah see ya noticed my silly little flesh wound. You want to know how ah got it? Sure ya do." and the smile turned frozen, rictus for a few moments, the muscles too taut, the eyes too cold.
"They told me I could have a cuff. A restraint. My heart would stop when I was near you. Or I could cut this off with a blunt knife and have ya, be free to do whatever I want with ya." and he let his gaze drop then, unashamed, traversing every inch, as close to real hunger as he could get. When it returned to her face he paused there, smiled and in a moment's glimpse of someone else, someone monotone and cold whispered.
"Jag gjorde det för dig"
Once again Jan, the lapse gone as swiftly as it had come, he averted his gaze, eyeing the door frame. "You couldn't even win at roughing up little old me." he said, sighing in heavy disappointment. "What a darn shame."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 6:14 pm
" As if I'd fall under anybody's boot. You don't know the first thing about me and you never have." Derision dripped from every word and America leaned into the door frame. She reached out and took hold of his left wrist, lifting to inspect the abrupt end, sliding back fabric for a closer look. She didn't take a great deal of care as she did so, as his body had always been something like doll's to her. The obvious damage was almost charming, really. The reasoning made her laugh again, incredulous, "Jesus wept, you are the craziest b*****d I have ever had the misfortune to meet." The girl lifted the wrist still higher and placed a small kiss upon it before dropping his arm like trash. "Being near to me isn't having me," America explained through a toothy smile. "Being near me doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want, you delusional sack of s**t." Spitefully, she added, "Now you're even more useless than before." He'd cut off his hand to be near her. What even was this man? She pursed her lips at the taunt and her eyes turned thoughtful, "Dull knife's pretty cruel, gotta say. Maybe I am outclassed," America raised her eyebrows at him. "Maybe you should be talking at their door instead of mine." There would be nightmares tonight. She could laugh and sneer all she wanted now, but in the pit of her gut she knew what awaited once she fell asleep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:07 pm
"I know a great deal about you missy, no matter what yer bravado says. I saw things in that game, during the battle and I always knew you better than you know yourself, this old cowboy's smarter than you think he is." He'd been privy to some things he did not reckon America would really wish the general populace to see let alone someone she treated with the level of disgust and disdain she treated him.
He looked on with interest as she took hold of his wrist. The very contact sung to the fleeting spark he'd been pursing and fanned the fires of his motivation even further. He did not mind the roughness, he never expected gentleness from her and might well have thought less of her had he received it.
The kiss itself felt strange against the newly mended flesh. It was not negative. In a way it was a gift, it was for her after all that he'd done it, a statement of calm intention. She was what he needed and he would pursue her endlessly.
"And oh didn't say it was missy. What it does mean is that when I do do both of them here things, ain't nobody gonna stop me." He walked his fingertips across the cold stone, focused on empty space as he did so, as if once again he was blind in an infirmary bed. Now and then he would inhale, like a serpent tasting the air.
When he reached the edge again he returned his attention to her smiling warmly and giving her another long keen look. "I like ya best of all, you know that. I would not trade ya in."
He inclined his head to one side, his unruly hair grown back in once again after his ordeals bowing to gravity. "I head to the sahara soon you know." he said, and it was slow and patient, as if he was tasting the very words. "With Taym." Whatever she replied, whatever she did would be part of his test. "If you want me to be on his side while I'm there rather than actively working against him, invite me in there here and now. What little you no doubt expect this old cowboy's word to be worth, I will give it for you that I will help him."
"If not I will assume that it is indeed serious. And I will do anything within my power to make sure that he does not come back and that I set you free to roam the plains once more." The smile turned slightly cruel. "If I don't know you. Then, surprise me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:52 pm
Ain't nobody gonna stop me. As if. America rolled her eyes at that. He knew things now, more than she'd ever want him to know. He could see more of the gaps and vulnerabilities she'd wanted to stay out of his reach since the very first. But that didn't mean she was helpless or friendless, regardless of what Lawrence thought. Again there was a brief sense of relief, he knew things about her, but not he didn't really know her. Not at all. He began to speak of Taym and some sort of deal between them, and America frowned and shut her eyes at the threat. Heaving a soft sigh of regret, she opened them and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed her forehead against his and answered quietly, "You say I'm your favourite, and what have you done? You've scarred me. You've tricked me. You've invaded my spaces. You somehow got me nearly executed. And now you're holding my friend's life for what? Sex? A few hours of my company?" Her teeth flashed white in an angry smile, "It'd be crueler to give him your help than to make you his enemy." The girl shoved him back, hard. "So ******** off and kindly die in that ******** desert."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:05 pm
She hadn't surprised him. He'd been betting that she would not let him close again, that Taym was now in the way of whatever claim he had on her, that he was an obstacle.
"Those things aren't the worst I could have done missy, they were kindnesses in comparison simply because you are my favourite." The sharp comments washed over him without traction, anything she said to him was positive simply by the virtue that she said it at all.
The closeness was almost pleasant and he lowered his voice to add briefly. "And its nothing I would not do to myself."
He was not anticipating the shove and he reeled back, throwing out his injured hand to try and brace himself against the far wall, but with no hand there was nothing but a rather painful blow against the raw bone. He slipped and fell, looking surprised as he found himself on the ground before simply gathering himself back up again. He was not angry, he was not hurt, her rejection was no surprise to him and no deterrent.
"You know I am perfectly capable of that. There is nothing that I am not capable of missy." he smiled slightly once again. "When losing you is at risk." He had cut off a hand, he was willing to cut off his very existence if he was certain to drag Taym with him. "Though preferably I will return. Alone. Unless you reconsider, and quickly."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:15 pm
America stood over him, watching the newly crippled man get back up with ugly satisfaction. "I told you awhile back what the cost of coming back without him would be. That still stands." She stepped back into her room and began to close the door, calling out as she did so, "Nothing you're not capable of, huh? Try clapping."
The door slammed shut behind her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:24 pm
Lawr grinned at her as she went. The cost was certainly something he was keen to experience, to see what she was truly capable of and to drag her down with him once again. She was the same as he remembered and it was exhilarating for reasons he did not comprehend.
As she slammed the door he found himself laughing, genuine, amused laughter of the sort that Chantelle had on occasion hit out with. Something about the situation tickled his sense of humor and it transcended the boundaries of persona.
He'd given her the chance. It was more than most people got.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
