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 Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 8:15 pm
Faolan shugged. "It's nothing," he lied, moving to sit down on the bed, letting his hand rest on a lump under the covers that snuggled closer. He was smiling, trying to keep that sense that everything was okay--and really, it was now that she was here--but his eyes kept a slightly haunted look.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 8:35 pm
"Don't lie to me," Ellandra said, her tone gentle but seeped in worry. "P-please, Faolan - I - I want to know - I . . ." she trailed off for a moment and bit her lip, before sitting down next to him, being very careful of that moving lump under the blankets. "E-even if all I can do is . . . is try to make you and Ziazan feel better.... let me? Please?"
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 8:39 pm
Fao rubbed the back of his neck, then sighed and looked at her. He wasn't sure where to begin, but he didn't want to tell her about the strange Essentic they'd encountered, that much was for sure. "Da beat the s**t out of me, but not because of you. I blew off work again to take care of some stuff. I also got kinda banged up during the carnival's move." He looked down, rubbing idly at this arm. His voice was much lower. "Got in a fight with a roustabout."
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 8:48 pm
Ellandra said and did nothing for a long moment, simply sitting there and taking in what Faolan had just told her. Then she nodded to herself and took his hand, looking up at him with a serious expression. "I can tell it's more than that, but I won't bother you about it - if it's too terrible to talk about, then there's no need to bring it up," she said slowly. "Whatever you. . . skipped work for. . .I'm sure it was i-important. . ." Her eyes narrowed a little, then, and she bit her lip, concerned about what his answer to her next question might be.
"Faolan. . . what did you fight about?" She asked, hoping it was something silly and not something terrible. Either was equally possible with Faolan.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 8:54 pm
Faolan shook his head, seeming a bit younger than he was. "It ain't really that important, Elle. Word's gotten around I've got a girlfriend and he said some stuff that . . . weren't appropriate and I called him out on it. Arguments can escalate quick like when people are already irritable from moving the carnival. No worries, though. I won the fight."
He still wasn't looking at her, instead focusing on hands and where hers rested in them. "The rest of it ain't much. Zia just had some trauma with using its power. Worry's been takin' some toll on me, too. Everything will be better now that you're here." He looked up at her and his eyes showed that he truly believed that.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:06 pm
Ellandra bit her lip again and ducked her head. "I - I'm sorry, Faolan. . . I - I should have - have come by sooner. . . I - I . . . I sh-should have. . ." She trailed off, not sure of what she possibly could have - and should - have done, aside from be there for him sooner than she was. But. . . she hadn't known - still, she should have- she - she, oh, she just didn't know! She didn't dare to look up at the fortune-teller; she didn't want him to be upset by the shame and guilt she was feeling for not having been here for him and Ziazan sooner.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:10 pm
"Don't worry on it, Elle. You're here now. It'll be okay. Right, Zia?" Fao asked, patting the little lump affectionately.
"Yes," came a soft muffled answer. "Ellandra. Lover. Soulmate. Childhood friend. Things will be better."
Faolan shrugged at the creature's answer and looked at Elle. "It's been doing that a lot lately. Spouting off strange things that it reads."
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:17 pm
Ellandra's eyes darkened even more with concern, and she looked at the lump for a moment and bit her lip, before going back to where she'd dropped her bag and taking something out of it. Holding it securely in her hands, she came back over to the bed and sat down, glancing at Faolan for a moment before looking down at the lump under the blankets. "Here, little one," she said softly. "When you come out of there, I have a gift for you."
Maybe this would help, if just a little. Whatever had happened to the little Proto must have been terribly traumatizing. . .
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:22 pm
Zia shuffled around under the covers, finally coming out at the head of the bed and looked at Elle. It certainly wasn't the loud, bossy little thing Ellandra would have remembered, coming across as a bit more subdued. "A gift?"
Faolan reached over and picked Zia up, cradling the Essentic to his chest as if it were an infant. "It's alright, my wee bairn. No more shocks. Elle won't hurt you."
The Essentic looked up at him when he spoke, then turned its head to look at Elle, a slightly faraway look in it's rainbow-colored eyes. Slowly it reached a tiny hand out, hidden within the feathers of its wing. "Can I have it?"
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:38 pm
"Of course, little one," Ellandra said, offering what was in her hands to the tiny Proto. "I'm sorry it's not wrapped or anything; I was going to later today, but someone kidnapped me ahead of schedule." As she handed the gift over, careful to make sure that oh-so-small hand could grasp it - Ziazan seemed so fragile right now! -, she smiled softly at the Essentic. "I have a bigger one back at the apartment, so that when you get bigger you'll still have one just like this to wear - if you like it," she added hastily, unsure of how her gift would be received.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:44 pm
Zia took the scarf from Ellandra, tucking it around its little body and looked up at Fao a brief moment before focusing on the woman again. "I like it. It's quieter than the ones Faolan has." It fingered the fabric a moment in thought, then smiled--its first real smile since Vin had injured it. "I have a gift for you as well."
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:52 pm
Ellandra blinked, startled that the little Poto was discussing a gift for her - really? What could. . . but never mind. Really, she was just relieved to see it smile at her, and she smiled back at it. "I'm glad you do," she said quietly. "I wanted to find something. . . something a little different than you can find here," she said, wanting to hug the little Proto herself but not wanting to disturb it from its resting place in Faolan's arms, either. Instead, she tilted her head. "A gift. . .? Well, thank you in advance then, little one. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's wonderful."
It was probably some tidbit of information the little Proto had picked up at some point or another, she decided, knowing that really, that would more as much or more pleasant than a material gift would be, anyway.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:59 pm
Zia nodded, tilting its head up to look at Faolan. "Hold her hand, you jerk."
Faolan couldn't help chuckling, happy to see some of Zia's usual personality coming back through. He let Zia down on the pillows of the bed and moved around to pull Ellandra to him, resting his arms around her in a loose hug so her back rested against his chest. "So, what's this gift, little one, eh?"
The Essentic got comfortable and looked up at the young couple. "A little girl meets a young boy getting lessons from Grandmother in the carnival. Their eyes meet, and then their souls meet. The boy calls the girl to him and reads her fortune. She draws The Lovers, but Grandmother intervenes, tells her she will have a long wait before she will be whole again. The boy takes the girl to her mother and, later when the girl is long gone, Grandmother makes him forget so he won't suffer till he finds the girl again." Zia tilted its head, gazing at them with its multicolored eyes. "Those twenty years were a long wait, weren't they?"
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 10:12 pm
Ellandra blinked. And blinked again. Then she blinked yet a third time, her mind trying to process what she'd just been told. "W-what do you mean, Ziazan....?" She asked, her throat and mouth running dry. Ziazan was using its abilities, she could tell that much. . . which meant what it was saying was true, and - and obviously about them, but - she had never heard anything like this. . . and - it had mentioned her mother. She'd never known her mother!
. . . So what was going on?
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 10:18 pm
Faolan frowned. "That ain't possible, Zia. Grandmother would've never done anything to hurt me."
The Essentic looked at him, pointing a tiny hand in his direction. "And you weren't hurt. You just forgot. You both did, though in different circumstances. It was better for you, since you were only children. Do you remember, Fao, how sick you were before you were three?"
"No," the young man said, shaking his head. "I just remember Da talking about it a lot."
"That's because she had it easy. You were already here waiting for her when she was born," Zia explained. "You two would've been sick without each other. As it was, you were just empty."
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