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Quicksilver the Archangel
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 Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:03 pm
The wound on her shoulder had ceased being a sharp pain and faded into a dull ache as she shifted on her pillow, thanks in no small part to the painkillers the doctor had given her. Penelope could not completely remember how she had arrived at the hospital after the battle. The teenager did not remember losing consciousness, but her memory was fuzzy around the edges. The last crystallized memory was of Harper's transformation into a Senshi and of a beam of light that had chased off her attacker. Her next, shadier memory was of her parents talking to the doctor and the words "stable" and "stiches" being used. The procedure performed on her now bandaged shoulder she didn't remember at all, but her parents had been there when she fully woke up to explain to her how many stitches she had recieved and that she was safe now. And then Penelope gave a description to the officer who asked her about her attacker and then, gratefully, watched him leave with her parents in order to complete the rest of the police report without her.
Yet, the one question that she had been asking over and over and had not yet recieved an adequate answer to was still at the forefront of her mind: where was Harper?
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:13 am
Harper was just outside Penelope's hospital door, as it turned out.
It was a dark mirror of their after-school routine: usually, they would meet up for an hour, more or less, somewhere to hang out or do homework or some combination of both. The library, an empty classroom, the grassy hills near the archery range, or maybe the coffee house near campus. Today, it was the hospital. She knew she should have come when Penelope's parents were around, to offer support, but... she just couldn't bring herself to look them in the face. Not when she knew why Pene was really here and couldn't say anything. Not when she had seen it happen.
Harper herself had escaped relatively unscathed, thanks to that magical cat and Pene-erm, Sailor Pasiphae's powers. Yet, the memory remained painful to recall. And holy hell was it overwhelming. At least Pene would have to tell her what was going on behind the scenes of Destiny City now, as it seems Sailor Nyx has been swept up into this less-than-private war.
Tightening the grip on her plastic bag -- if she had been any more artsy, it may have been a proper gift basket -- before knocking on the door. She didn't wait for an answer before edging her way in and whispering,
"Pene? Are you awake?"
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:51 am
Penelope sat up a little too fast at the sound of Harper's voice--a mistake, as the wince that quickly passed over her face showed. She settled back into her pillow but she motioned for her friend to enter, a small, relieved small on her face, "Yes, yes... come in! I'd let you in myself but... I don't think I'm supposed to get up just yet..."
It was... awkward, still, to be around Harper after everything they had experienced. Penelope had never even really had a chance to formally apologize for their fight before the battle with the Negaverse captain had started... and now here they were in a hospital, an uncomfortable placein and of itself. Her uninjured hand toyed slightly with the hospital blanket as she waited for Harper to settle. Maybe once that happened... this moment would get easier, more natural. But somehow... she doubted it.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:36 am
Seeing her friend lying in a hospital bed in such a state hurt, physically hurt. Harper had thought peoples' claims of empathy in these situations were overrought or at least counted herself immune. (It was entirely different if it had been one of the horses, of course.) She knew what to expect through the hospital reports and therefor should have been prepared for the sight. How long had she known Pene, anyway? Obviously not long enough, given this whole Sailor Suited business. Since the end of spring, her more rational side chimed in.
And yet, it hurt. Harper softly closed the door behind herself, as if the stagnant air of the hospital had become glass.
"I wouldn't recommend it, either," she said, coming to stand next to Pene's bedside. Her booksack felt heavier than usual, but it wasn't because of the extra books and papers. She set it and the plastic bag on the floor next to her. "It... it looked really bad out there... in the alley. It looks like you cleaned up well, though?" Are you okay, are you really going to be okay?, was what Harper really wanted to ask.
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:37 am
Harper wasn't the only one who felt a pang of pain at their meeting. The wound in her shoulder not withstanding, the guilt continued to swell in her as her friend talked. She was making Harper go out of her way. She was making her check to make sure she was alright, when Penelope had been the one charged to offer protection. Or at least... at least the first one supposed to offer protection. Harper was a much better person for this duty. She was strong and fearless and... all of the things Penelope wasn't.
The injured teenager didn't bring that up, though, not now. She had more immediate concerns. Her tired eyes ran over her friend's form and saw no obvious injury but... that didn't mean she was okay. "The doctor says that if I keep the wound clean, it should heal fine. I'll have a scar, but... I mean, there's just no avoiding that..."
Penelope's voice ran dry momentarily as she shifted positions to better face her friend. She didn't want to talk about herself; she didn't care about her own wound. On some level, she knew she deserved it for jumping into a battle she had no real chance of winning. But Harper... if Harper had gotten hurt... no. The dark-haired teen stretched out her good hand towards the other teen, clear anxiety in her eyes and voice, "But what about you? Are you... okay?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:50 pm
"Me?" Harper was surprised and almost taken aback by the question. After all, she wasn't the one currently lying in a hospital bed after being skewered by a javalin. She hadn't even needed a visit to the emergency room. In fact, after making sure Penelope was going to be reached by the paramedics, Harper had sped through figuring out how to un-transform, loaded herself onto the nearest bus, and shivered with something-she-wouldn't-admit-as-panic all the way home. Unconsciously, the innocent question planted a seed in the loose soil: what if her own experience was not the usual result of these... incidents? What if, more often than not, when light met dark there would be blood?
She managed to smile reassuringly, because the seed had not yet taken root. "Nothing a few band-aids couldn't fix," Harper said, showing off a few of the visible ones. "Just a few scrapes and bruises, really. No cool scar for me. You and that magical cat-thing did most of the work."
A small pause, followed by a blunt question forced out over the floodgates,
"It will eventually get less awkward to talk about this, right?" There's a conflict of harshness and levity to the tone -- not directed at Penelope, but at the cosmos itself. As if she would blink and awake to discover that it had all only been a dream.
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:31 pm
The injured girl sank back into her pillows, unable to contain a sigh of relief. No serious injuries, nothing but bandaids and minor scrapes. It was still too much; Harper should never have gotten hurt, should never have been in the position to be hurt. But she was grateful that the damage had been minimal.
Her friend's question hit her ears like a brick, and a lump formed in her throat. "I wanted... to tell you, Harper. I really, really wanted to tell you, but..." Penelope choked, unable to fight the tears that rolled down her face as she began to sob. It was all too much. The fight with Harper. The fact that, if not for Penelope, her friend would never have been there to get involved in the fight against the Negaverse. The burden of being a Senshi at all, but the additional struggle of keeping it all a secret from her best friend. Until now, when it was too late... too late to keep her safe.
"I c-c-c-ouldn't... c-c-couldn't tell you... s-secret... I'm so... so, so, sor-ry..."
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 10:30 pm
Harper was taken off guard again by the shift in emotion, as though the delicate glass that had surrounded the room had been shattered. She hadn't see the cracks or how it was buckling under pressure, but now the sharp edges were too obvious. It hurt to touch. The awkward tension was better than having to face this. Harper at that moment wanted nothing more than to run out of the hospital room and forget every bit of this senshi business, even Penelope - for real this time - if she had to.
Instead, she bit her lip and extended a hand to Penelope's shoulder. It ghosted there for a moment, caught in a memory, before it shifted to settle on her friend's hand.
"Pene, I didn't come by to... upset you. Don't think about anything except getting better right now, okay?" A second hand joined the first, pulling words with it. "Nothing. Not even what happened at the barn. You have to forgive someone if they saved your life. I think it's a rule."
You have to forgive someone, but for how much?
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:35 pm
It hurt, but all cuts to drain wounds did. Penelope could not stop the tears, as desperately as she wanted to, not even when she saw how it affected Harper. It had all been building for too long. Now there was nothing to do but listen to the soothing words and use them as an anchor. Harper was safe. She was safe, and she was here, and no one was angry and... it would get better now, right? ... right? The good hand did not shrink away from her friend's grip, as it might from the touch of others. As the sobs began to fade away, there was still a weakness, a breathlessness to her words. For all the she might agree with her friend, something had her confused, "But... but you didn't do anything for me to forgive?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:18 pm
Harper couldn't help herself -- she smiled and laughed, just the smallest bit, at Penelope's obliviousness. It came out more like a "tchh," caught as it was between all of the other emotions. Harper pat her friend's hand and crossed her arms on the hospital bed's side barrier instead, leaning her head on top of them. It was as though that evening at the library had all been leading up to this. "You're impossible sometimes, you know that?" she asked lightly. Her own brown eyes were glossed with the threat of tears, but they were yet held at bay. " I forgive you," she clarified, gesturing in kind with a free finger. Then, more softly, "But... I'm glad that you could forgive me, too. I helps to have a friend on the other side and... I missed you." Quicksilver the Archangel
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Quicksilver the Archangel
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:26 pm
Penelope had spent nights hoping to hear those words, and now that they fell she could scarcely believe it. Yet, the pointing finger, along with the pointed words, made it plain as day. Harper, her friend, her newest ally... forgave her. Even if she didn't deserve it after holding back the truth, for getting as upset as she had over nothing... No. No, she wasn't going tot hink on it. She was forgiven. That was enough. The injured girl reached out to touch her friend's teal hair, a remarkably easy and affectionate gesture. Her tired reply was no less genuine as she whispered, "Thank you, Harper. I... I missed you too."
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:52 pm
So, that was that -- the cleanest reconciliation she had ever been a part of. Make that the only one, she mentally corrected herself. Harper smiled warmly at her now-again friend when Penelope reached out for her short, teal hair. It was more touchy-feely than she was used to from anyone, yet the emotion of the moment said, non-begrudgingly, to let it pass. Some issues remained, but now there was a peaceful calm that Harper welcomed with open arms. An item in the plastic bag at her feet shifted, causing a small stir. She had almost forgotten! "Oh, I brought you some things!" Harper retrieved the sorta large plastic bag, placed it next to Penelope on the bed, and began fishing items out one at a time. "Homework and notes from class," some books and loose papers, "volume two of that green lantern guy you like," it was actually Booster Gold, " The Seventh Seal" oh God, the cover looked black and white and Swedish, "and I'm afraid I don't have any popcorn." An impish look. "Just two avocado and bell pepper cupcakes." Quicksilver the Archangel
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