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 Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:33 pm
She was nervous about this visit, but also confident that she had a heavy jacket and a heavy sweater and another long-sleeved t-shirt under it and if he somehow had a golf club in the hospital, Sue would not be able to use it. They were in wards, after all. Everyone would see and he'd get, she didn't know, sedated or something.
So Elke tucked up her purse, checked to make sure the bribe was in it, and presented her identification to the nurse at the station just outside the ward. She assured the suit that she would be okay; it was just Sue. Instead of following her over to the dark-haired boy's bed, he stood near the door, an implacable wall of frowning bodyguard. That was how it'd gone when she'd seen Mackenzie, too. She smiled, somewhat uncertain, and held out her peace offering to the boy in the bed (it was a bag of pretzels).
"Hi, Sue," she said, sitting down in the chair next to his bed. He couldn't exactly get away, she figured. In fact, it was safe to say he was her captive audience, and with that in mind she set the pretzels on his bedside table, stood and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I decided I'm not mad at you until you're all better," she explained. "Plus, it's Christmas. Or sorta close to it. So I brought you pretzels."
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:40 pm
"... Pretzels?"
Even as Sue asked the question in such a dubious tone, he was already ripping the bag open. The nurses didn't want him to have pretzels. They wanted him to stick to foods he could drink through a straw - something about the body rejecting solid foods, whatever. Sue was of the opinion that they could stuff it and get him a damn hamburger, but somehow, they didn't seem to care what he thought.
There should have been a thank you for Elke somewhere in there, probably, but Sue was too busy cramming his mouth full of delicious, salty, crunchy pretzels. "Mrrfl nnfp Christmas," Sue commented with his traditional growling tone, then swallowed his mouthful. "How'd you get them to let out so damned early, anyway?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:50 pm
She smiled, something like a giggle escaping through her fingers. "Pretzels. Salt is good for you. Maman said it was, so I know." With her hands back in her lap, as opposed to covering up her smile--she was destined, apparently, for a dentist visit tomorrow, though her teeth seemed just as white as before--she stared at Sue with wide green eyes.
"Papa is an ambassador," was the explanation. "Plus there wasn't really anything wrong with me, I guess. I was all human for the last bit so I didn't get tired; they just sewed up where Grayson bit me and then Fallon bit me right here," she was pointing to the side of her neck, wincing, "and really they just wrapped me up and sent me home! They told Maman and Papa to keep me home, but Voirrey was driving me nuts so they sent me here, because this way I can make sure everyone's okay."
Giving Sue a considering look, she added, "I owe you a welcome back hug, do you want it now or later or next week or something because you will get one." She was smiling. It was a threat.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:02 pm
Great. So Elke had a daddy that could pull some strings, so she got to run around willy-nilly and eat all the good food she wanted. Sue's daddy had run off when he was a baby, so he had to sit and eat soup and smuggled pretzels until the hospital was satisfied. That was just ******** unfair.
"Later," Sue determined. He was betting on the fact that Elke's short attention span belied an even shorter memory, and she would either forget about the hug later, or Sue would be able to claim that he'd already gotten it. Or else maybe he could make fierce faces at her until she let him alone, whatever. "How's all the others? They won't let me go and see anybody, and the only girl I've gotten to talk to so far doesn't remember a damn thing from the past year." The was all spoken between mouthfuls, of course - those pretzels were disappearing at an alarming rate.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:13 pm
She sighed. Well, he couldn't get away. She'd get her hug later. Later meaning right when she was leaving and she could count on Bastien to watch her back. Well, Bastien could watch her back here, but she'd prefer being able to run from poor antagonized Sue.
"I saw Mackie, she remembers everything," said Elke thoughtfully, "I saw Grayson! Actually I went home with Grayson? He remembers everything but we couldn't talk a lot because his family and my family were there. Um. Me 'n Hero went shopping. For stuff, like shoes. Maman threw out my clothes. I haven't met anyone who doesn't remember Barren Pines, actually."
Idly, she fluffed her hair, running her fingers through the flippy layers at the end. Elke knew she'd looked really terrible near the end of that ordeal, and it was nice to be able to take her time with her hair. "Do you think everyone made it out all right," asked Elke suddenly as she watched Sue devour the pretzels. "The list of people looked... really short."
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:26 pm
Sue looked as grim as a man could while licking salt from his fingers. "No," he answered honestly. "I think a lot of people are dead. I think if you go to the morgue, you're going to see a lot of them right now." One of the many places in Sue's mind that he needed to attend himself, once they ******** let him. There were respects to be paid....
"They were dead before, though," Sue added more quietly. And to his credit, he waited a respectful amount of time after that before stuffing the next handful into his mouth. The bag was mostly down to the broken scraps at the bottom now. "Most everyone, anyway. A couple of us weren't. So I guess... you know. The ones that made it out, this is a second chance. The ones that didn't...."
No harm done? Not quite so simple. But not quite so painful if it had been the other way around, maybe, if they'd been someone truly living that....
Oh ******** Sue wasn't even convincing himself of his s**t. But if he made it sound good, maybe Elke would buy it. She was notoriously good about trying to convince others not to care about death, after all. So Sue shrugged like he didn't care, let her think that was true.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:37 pm
Her eyes started to look suspiciously shiny, but to her credit, she didn't look like she was getting ready to bawl her eyes out. Which was good, because that would be awkward, totally awkward. She still remembered how she'd embarrassed herself fighting that monster very vividly, and since she was trying to be mature she didn't want to repeat the incident. Not even in spirit did Elke want to repeat that incident.
"So... if they're not on the list... even I'm on the list, but they marked me as released. If they're not on the list..."
She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. She shook her head, and said thoughtfully: "I was dead. I died. In a fire." Twice, she could have said. She didn't. "It doesn't seem fair."
It was whiny, and childish, and she looked embarrassed enough that anyone would know she knew it, too. "I could go get the list," Elke said, sitting up straighter. "I'm sure they'd let me have it." Bastien would ensure she could have it. "Then we'd know. Who didn't... get out."
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:15 pm
"********. ******** ******** ********. Why did it have to be Elke here, now? Why couldn't it have been someone... easier? Even if it had been the semblance of Virgo, this whole talk wouldn't seem so evil. Bad news was too much of an imposition on Elke's stupid happiness, her goofy naivety. Sue didn't want to be the one to force it on her.
"... You should wait." It was hard to say - so ******** hard - but Sue made it sound as earnest as he could. "For the rest of the Zodiacs. Once we all get together again, that's when we should."
When there were people other than him that would know what to say, when friends were missing.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:01 pm
She stared for a moment, and then she nodded. "Until the other Zodiacs are together again," she said, but there was a thick blush spreading over her cheeks. Elke was lying. The idea was in her head, and probably the second she was done visiting Sue she would go look to see who was dead and who was alive.
Elke leaned onto her hands, elbows on the edge of Sue's bed, then paused to pull out another bag of pretzels. Just in case. "I'm sorry I hurt Piper," she said, "I really am."
She couldn't think of anything else to say. Probably that wasn't even the right thing to say, but Sue looked so confused? Maybe confused. Elke was not good at reading Sue.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:28 pm
Sue shook the last of the crumbs from the bag into his mouth - really, it was probably about 97% salt, 2% pretzel, and 1% well-disguised bug parts - and, his first task thus completed, tossed the crinkled bag toward a small trash bin (and missing by a great margin.) He was ready for the next bag now.
If he'd been smarter, though, he would have made sure to secure the bag before saying the next part: "Yeah... well, I'm not going to say I'm sorry I hit you." Probably not what Elke wanted to hear, but Sue wasn't going to lie to make her feel better. Not for after she'd hit Piper, and not for when they'd met up later, was Sue going to apologize. He'd acted exactly the way he needed to survive, and he'd been as damn clear about what he would do to defend himself and his friends - to do what was at the time, holding the line - as he could.
But the truth was, if he was being honest, he did have one thing he had to say. And Sue hated himself for it already. "... I am sorry, though, that I was too late to save you. You know... from the fire."
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:25 pm
"I know," said Elke, putting the bag of pretzels on his chest. There was an uncommonly mature look on her face, for Elke Arma. She looked almost cynical, or ironic maybe. Then her expression brightened, she smiled and cocked her head. "You will one day, though. I know that, too." Apparently she was doing a lot of knowing today.
She fell awkwardly silent at the apology he did tender, green eyes pointed anywhere else but Sue's face. "I'm not your responsibility," said Elke after a minute, "I don't blame you. If I had just not looked for Giselle and Avery, I would've been okay. You don't even like me."
It was abnormally astute, for, you know, Elke.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:58 pm
Something bore scrutiny here. Elke was acting remarkably... less Elke-ish than normal. Which to Sue meant, less like a five year old that was saying things because they sounded like the right thing to say, and maybe a little more like she was saying things because they were the right thing to say. It was eerie.
Sue looked long and hard at the girl. Then, decisively, he reached out - and tore open the new bag of pretzels. "Mmph," Sue mumbled through a new handful. It was a good answer, he thought; very open for interpretation. It could mean mmph, I never said I don't like you, or mmph, you could be right, or even mmph, shut up and let me eat pretzels, oh god these are the best pretzels I've ever eaten. Truly, it was to the imagination of the beholder, and Sue saw no need to elaborate and shatter any illusions.
Once his mouth was clear again, he changed the subject. "What happened once I went out, anyway?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 9:23 pm
"Thank you, though," she said so quietly the words might have never been said at all.
She bit her lip, thinking. After Sue had gone unconscious... "We woke up the Princess, henshined up--Grayson is so shiny, Sue, he's like a mini golden fabulous supernova, and Hero has a cape, I wish I had a cape."
It occurred to her that Sue might not know she was the girl dragging away zombie corpses at that shed. The old gardening shed, wasn't it? Well, if he didn't know, she wasn't going to tell her. "And then we all prayed to the Opal Crystal and there were shiny lights everywhere and the beam broke the bubble and I don't remember anything after that. Except then I woke up here, and there was Grayson and Maman and Papa and my brother."
Looking around, Elke asked, "Where's your family? Mackenzie's wasn't here, either..."
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 9:32 pm
Sue tried to imagine it. Grayson was easy to remember - whatever Leo wore, probably astronauts on the moon would be able to spot it. And as for Hero having a cape... well, she probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that Sue thought that was a clever pun. Sue was the last person that ought to get a laugh over someone's name, after all.
But the Princess... Sue was never going to regret missing that one. Maybe he'd get a chance to see it again someday. He wasn't sure if he'd be lucky if he got to, or lucky if there was never a cause for him to. Probably the latter. But still....
Oh well.
"I don't want my mom coming up just for this," Sue waved off the suggestion. "I told her I just passed out. She lives out of the city, y'know; I don't think that story about organ trafficking'll reach her."
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 9:58 pm
She let her head flop to the starchy sheets with an 'oof'. Not on Sue, God forbid, just the mattress. "You didn't die with us, that's right," said Elke. With someone else, it would have been an accusation, being barred from a secret club. Elke made it just another throwaway comment, a perhaps offensive one, but she didn't mean anything about it. She didn't know enough to mean anything by it.
"She... does she know about Barren Pines? Maman and Papa don't remember anything about it. Not even Voirrey and I wrote to him at least once a week."
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