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 Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:52 am
He slept for nearly a full day before a very confused maintenance worker found him nestled between a pair of parked delivery vans behind the Rider-Waite cafeteria. The defensive wounds on his hands coupled with his other, more serious injuries encouraged local law enforcement to overlook his strange clothing and general squirreliness, and he had been treated with the utmost respect and concern by the nurses ever since he'd arrived. He suspected that much of their good will stemmed from Olivia's presence and sunny personality. Without his sister, Rabbit looked like a rudderless troublemaker who enjoyed his I.V. painkillers a little more than he should.
Although she had shown up a mere half hour after he'd been admitted and hadn't left his side since, Liv excused herself when he asked to be alone, promising to return as soon as Jim got home to drive her back. Rabbit felt a little guilty dismissing her like that, but Autumn was here, and it was hard enough to keep secrets when he was the only one in the room who might give them away.
He busied himself by smoothing the sheet flat over his legs with his awkward, bandaged hands, but the motion quickly became captivating, and he stared at the sweep of white on white because it pleased him, not because he was nervous.
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So Long Gay Bowser generated a random number between
and ...
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:24 pm
She was tired. So very, very tired. Tired didn't even properly describe the feeling that had completely settled over her, but she was too ******** tired to consider a better word. While she would've liked to spend the next year sleeping off the unpleasant memories and the still-lingering smell of blood, life moved on. There wasn't the time to pretend that the world just didn't exist. Rabbit was an odd reminder. A fixture there to say that the faerie ball had occurred, had taken its victims. That the rest of the world spun on, even as he was in the hospital healing. It was only right, given everything, that Autumn went to visit him. They weren't... Friends, per se. Missing his abduction had sealed that one for certain in her book. But, it was something that Autumn very well intended to change. Roses were too much. Too desperate, too on the point of how horrible she felt seeing him like this. Knowing she could've done more. So she'd opted for a mixed bouquet and the ugliest teddy bear she could get her hands on. Poor little ******** must've lost an eye whilst in the store. Autumn loved it. Setting the flowers and the bear on the table, she turned to Rabbit. "What's my favorite Mexican food?" She asked, with their company gone for now. It was more than likely this was the real Rabbit. The one who she had truly known at the salon, before everything. She wasn't taking that chance ever again.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:20 pm
For a second he had the same trouble as his double. Rabbit didn't eat unless starving or forced, and noticing what other people shoved into their mouths wasn't high on his list of enjoyable ways to spend his time. Maybe that was why he'd chosen such a bizarre password. Surely there was no other reason to mention Taco Bell in normal conversation if not for top secret espionage.
"Chalupa?" he said, grinning at her caution and the flowers and the bear and everything. "I almost didn't remember." His hands stopped moving and very deliberately came to rest on either side of his body. "I don't think you have to worry about weird sci-fi copies anymore though. At least not mine." He closed his eyes for slightly longer than a blink, his smile mostly gone when he opened them again.
"How are you?" She looked tired, but you couldn't just say that to people.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:24 pm
"I fried your double for missing that. It was... kind of ******** up. You probably would've gotten a kick out of it," Autumn mused, managing a thin-lipped smile. In reality, she'd had high hopes for the fetches- finding them a normal niche of existence, some other life to live. She wasn't shocked they were all dead, not really. Just... disappointed. Still nursing the sting of Vale's Betrayal.
"I failed you once, man. I'm not gonna let it happen again, even if it's this close after," she confessed, finding the nearest chair and slumping into it. Still, she kept her focus on Rabbit, on his status. Surely one more burst of healing up the injured wouldn't kill her, right? As long as she drank plenty of Pax's Nasty Healing Drink (tm) and rested.
"I'm... I'm not okay," Autumn admitted, the temporary smile falling off her face. "I wanted a peaceful answer, not... everything that happened. The fetches were ******** up, but I felt like we could help them. Change them to live better lives, or something."
She sighed.
"I'm an idiot.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 5:01 pm
His status was about an eight on a scale of one-to-WHEEEEEE as long as he didn't move around too much, but any sliver of magical healing would be a boon for his wallet if nothing else. Rabbit swallowed, unable to hide his concern for her even though he wished he could. This was just all too much. He doubted he would live long enough to get over it, even if he stuck around until he was a hundred.
"I don't think you're an idiot for wanting to help them and you didn't fail me. I didn't know my... fetch... before the ball, and I guess I wouldn't have minded seeing him sizzle a little after he stabbed me, but... there's nothing wrong with trying to keep the peace." Alois probably wouldn't agree, but he wasn't here. Rabbit didn't even know his phone number or where he lived in this world. "I remember when you stood up to Pax. I thought you were crazy, but you saved us all. Sometimes a deer just wants to take selfies, and sometimes zombies want to take over people's bodies, and there's nothing you can do but take those selfies or kill 'em before they kill you."
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:14 pm
"He wasn't the worst of them, I don't think. But I'm sorry he stabbed you." Autumn rubbed the back of her neck absentmindedly, wandering back to the fetches and the ball. The moral issue Mynn had thrown to her, when she was already struggling. But was he really decent and kind? Or had it just been another play to try and win her favor? It was entirely, possibly true that she'd been had. Again.
"If... you need any help, getting things back on track, let me know?" Maybe she really was free of guilt. Maybe she could wash her hands of it, and not be involved- but that wasn't how it felt. This was Autumn's issue, Autumn's friend. And even if it wasn't, you helped your friends out in a pinch.
The thought motivated her enough to stand, and she moved over to Rabbit's bedside. Taking a deep breath, Autumn set her hands over the bandages, and focused. Inhale, exhale. The pain was temporary, not real. But this instant would help to take it away from Rabbit, get him back on his feet. The pain made her head buzz, a ringing in her ears. Inhale, exhale.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:47 am
The healing itched a little and he squirmed, but when it was over, the additional thank yous he was poised to spew were lost in a sea of curiosity.
"You can do that here? Everyone was always throwing spells and s**t around at the manor and I didn't try until..."
He recalled Hux, broken and bleeding in the spire. His own injuries, too. "Until I had to."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 12:16 pm
"I think I'm a lot more involved in magic than most people," Autumn admitted, her smile tired but genuinely pacified. Seeing the wounds close more, and Rabbit grow closer to typical health, appeased a part of her that so desperately sought to protect her friends. And for the lack of knowing one another more intimately... Rabbit was pretty damn well her friend.
"I mean, if the new horns and freckles didn't give that away. But yeah. Short of losing an arm or--" slitting a throat, her mind supplied disgustingly, traitorously, burning her throat with bile. She swallowed thickly, refusing to finish.
"...Something worse, I can heal up pretty much anything." Autumn shrugged, distracted. She had to pull herself out of it- couldn't think about Adoelle slipping through her fingers, blood on her gown, so much blood.
"I take it you don't have any kind of crazy, energy-draining magic you do, then?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 12:55 pm
He hadn't noticed them, though now that they'd been brought to his attention, Rabbit couldn't imagine how he'd overlooked them. Horns. He started to smile, but without the pain she had taken he was clear headed enough to bring the spontaneous emotions down a notch. Really, how had he not seen horns? Maybe they'd registered as a new headband or something. He didn't mention his own parting gift from the ball: tiny, weird bumps in a ring around his head, thankfully quite thoroughly concealed by his hair. The nurses had smiled, all tolerant patience when discussing his "body modifications," but tattoos and marbles under his scalp were on two entirely different levels, thank you very much.
"Nope. I haven't noticed much of anything..." He lowered his voice. "...magic at all." There had been times when he'd pulled a cigarette or piece of tape out of nowhere, but he'd kind of thought those were just coincidences. "By involved, you mean you asked to learn more or something?" He supposed he could have done that too, but there was never any time and Father hadn't made those sorts of studies seem all that important. "Sit, if you're tired," he said, looking at the chair she'd left. "Oh, and thank you too." He wanted to pick at the bandages on his hands in particular to see what Autumn had done, but he didn't want to give the doctors too much to think about until long after she'd left. It was probably better for them to think he was some sort of super-healer rather than connect it to her.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 4:56 pm
"Yeah. Pax is kind of my teacher, alongside being my friend. They've taught me most everything I know." The memories of studying with Pax were happier than she felt now. Untainted by the feeling of filth that clung to her mind, reminded her of how she'd failed. One great ******** after the next. Her hands, it seemed, would never come clean again.
Nodding stiffly, Autumn fell back into her chair. Still watching Rabbit, she wondered over the events of the ball- how he was reacting, feeling. If he'd ever go back to a semblance of normalcy. She felt for him, she really did. After her own kidnapping, every shadow had been after her, every memory had been the taste of her friends in her throat. She still woke up in a cold sweat. But theirs... it was a whole different animal.
"I guess, if you don't mind, I have another question." She shifted a bit, getting more comfortable for a longer period of sitting. As comfortable as you could get in the hospital, anyway.
"Why did you call Ezra 'father'? He's not... actually you and Alois's dad, right? There's no way."
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:42 am
He nodded, anticipating curiosity about Min or Melany's tithes or any of the many, many other subjects that he remained unsure on. The last thing he expected her to ask was a question about Ezra. Still, he didn't hesitate.
"He wasn't, but he is now."
Rabbit remembered waking up terrified with September hovering near, watching Alois exude defiance and be punished for it, deciding it was better not to fight and finding out he was correct. He'd had another father once, one who had died and left him feeling guilty for not joining in, but Ezra was strict, surprisingly kind, and alive. He set boundaries that Rabbit had struggled to meet at first, but had grown to expect. To cherish.
"It's a long story, I guess?" He did begin to pick at his bandages then, rubbing at the nearly smooth skin beneath. "I really have to ask someone about this."Moonstone Dazzle i hear stockholm is lovely this time of year
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 5:14 pm
It was possible that this was not the best time to ask. Rabbit was already in pain, posted up in the hospital on account of her failure to notice otherwise. Hurt on her account of failing to protect him. And now, she was here with the knife, ready to cut open another wound. What was it Melany had said? Spare the rod, spoil the child?
"I'm... worried about you, Rabbit. You and everyone who went missing. From what-" ********, and she was already stammering, knees weak palms are heavy, vomit on her sweater already, Zac's spaghetti.
"...I heard claims of abuse, Rabbit. I just. I'm worried. Burning man- your Ezra- put me in the hospital. That week I missed, back when? That was him." But there was no accusation in her tone, only worry. Genuine fear over the would-be friend her negligence had betrayed. Always so self-absorbed, always screwing up.
"If. If he hurt you, Rabbit... that's not good. That's not healthy. I just... want to know that you're not letting someone hurt you. I don't know what all happened, but. That's not a good way to be with someone. Especially someone who abducted you."
She rubbed her face, the exhaustion feeling more and more prevalent.
"I know you're probably thinking, it's not my place. But I want to be your friend, Rabbit. And I'm being honest, as a healer, this s**t scares me. For you. Even if you don't... I don't know, see it the way I do. Just promise me you'll be careful? Friends don't replace friends with monsters that ruin their lives."
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 9:29 pm
It felt wrong now, like he was admitting something embarrassing and personal, but there had been a time when Rabbit had been afraid of the burning man and his murderous potential. His eggs had needed rescuing, he'd told himself, and at the time he hadn't been able to get them or himself out of Ezra's presence quick enough to suit. Now he longed to tell her she was wrong about Father, to force her to admit as much herself, but he was sure she would resent him for it, and he didn't want that at all.
"I'm very sorry he hurt you," he said, looking back up at her instead of at his bandages. "I'll be fine though." Father had only raised a hand when Rabbit had been wrong, and even then, the hand was never his own. "I am fine." For the briefest of moments he sounded angry, but he pushed it down. Autumn just didn't want to admit that she must've been wrong too. "I'm grateful that you care, but there won't be any more doubles." He'd killed his, and by the time there was another tithe, he would be old and gross and not fit to be picked. "I'll be careful. And we've got chalupa anyway." He smiled, but it was smaller than the others had been. She was right about one thing. Friends didn't send doppelgangers to sabotage and hurt their friends. But parents did when they had something to teach their children.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 10:00 am
"Are you?" Autumn snapped, only to realize herself a moment later. She sighed, mumbled an apology, and forced herself to relax- to sprawl more in her chair. It was a hard topic, she knew, and there was no way she was going to fix it in a day. If fixing it was really what she was even after. More... just to be heard. To make them aware that it wasn't so simple as to accept a father without his flaws.
"Sorry, sorry. I... I'm just scared, Rabbit. That's honestly what it is. I don't know what you went through, but I know Alois's dog was shot. His life was ruined. That's not... I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But that's not love to me. That sounds a lot like my dad, telling me I wasn't good enough, throwing my s**t away while I was gone. It's why I left."
She offered Rabbit a very sad smile. Miserable, worn around the eyes. He was a part of her guilt, now. Another name on the roster of people she had failed.
"I'll admit. I don't know him like you do. But the Burning Man I know asked an eighteen year old for his heart. Not in some metaphorical, sappy way, but his literal beating heart. And it would've killed Zac. So when he didn't get it, he smoked out my lungs. Made Zac drag me out of Other Ashdown to the hospital, laughing." She rubbed her face, remembering. There were nights that the smell of smoke, the memory of the burning, left her awake and haunted. Here, giving it so much thought, Autumn could almost taste it once more.
"Maybe he's changed. Maybe he does love you. But I'm just asking you- begging, I guess, for my sake- don't take everything at face value. Stick up for yourself if he hurts you- NOBODY has that right. Take care of yourself, and just..."
She swallowed thickly, and christ. She was almost crying again. Autumn was getting really ******** sick of crying.
"I don't want to see anyone else in the hospital. Anyone else hurt and haunted by the s**t they encountered over there. Even if you wind up proving me wrong, and he's actually the patron saint of you guys and changes the world... just be careful? For me?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:33 pm
"I'm sorry," he told the overbleached hospital sheets. She was on the verge of tears, and he had never been very good at dealing with that. Rabbit was paying attention, listening for comprehension as closely as he could, but he still couldn't equate Ezra with a man who would remove some kid's heart without a reason. But he wouldn't be mad about it. He wouldn't punch the kid in the schoolyard who said his dad wasn't cool.
"Yes. I will be. You won't have to visit me in here ever again." He looked up, his smile very small but no longer concealing fear or anger. "You need to rest. And my sister's probably sent me nine million texts asking if she can come back." She'd said she would return once her boyfriend could drive her, but Rabbit knew her better than that.
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