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 Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:12 pm
A few hours after Danny had come and gone Roch was feeling up to going somewhere. He was pretty sure Edel wouldn't be in her room--she'd want to go straight to Moure, and that was how it should be, right? The pink boil shoved his hands into his pockets as he stepped out of the reaper dorm, his eyes scanning the area around him. It wasn't because of the reporters this time, though. This was purely because of the all too realistic dream he'd just lived through. He didn't trust the world around him not to just start dissipating, sizzling into nothing but a source of power for the hunters. Death seemed so close, far closer than the boil had ever imagined, even with all the times he'd dissipated. A sick feeling tugged at his gut as he reached the demon dorms and he hesitated, staring up at the gaudy building for a long moment before heading up the steps and inside. He belatedly realized he should have brought his coat as he reached Edel's door. Oh well, he'd knock twice and then leave if she didn't reply. But... he really wanted to see her.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:58 am
Edel hadn't gone to see Moure. Not yet at least. The ghoul had woken up from her sleep gasping and covered in specks of ice - cold sweat for a frost demon. Burying her face in her hands, she forced herself to take a few deep breaths. There, all better now. It was just a dream.
The frost demon continued to sit, crouched up on her bed as she willed herself to make sense of what had just happened .... what she had just dreamt of. She had been right, it was the Trial of Death she had just been through. But she would have never imagined it to be so vivid; she had stopped believing it had been a trial the moment she had to beg for their release. But so what if her intuition had been right? Where were the rest for that matter?
The two knocks that came on her door couldn't have been timed any better. Scrambling to her feet, Edel set for the door and flung it open. The relief she felt when she saw the punk reaper at her door.
“Roch, thank Jack!” Her exclamation was punctuated by a brief silence. “What about the rest? Are they alright? Are you alright?” The ghoul had no idea what had become of the boils after she had been weaponized, whether or not they were released or had managed to escape or ....
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:01 am
Roch looked at her for a long moment, then reached up, touching her cheek. Then he promptly pulled his hand back, blowing on it to try and warm it up. He was grinning, though. "Jack, I thought for sure you were a goner in that thing," he said, hauling her into a hug even though he was sure he was going to freeze to death doing it (oh come ON, Roch, she's not THAT cold! Punk=P)
"I'm sorry," he said, right next to her ear. "Jack I'm sorry. I wish--"
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:19 am
The ghoul blinked at Roch as he reached out to touch her cheek, breaking into a grin when he did. “Don't be,” she whispered back, returning his hug (as warmly as she could), “We both knew there was nothing we could do.” Sensing that she would freeze him to death if she hugged him for any longer, Edel pulled back, her hands still holding onto his shoulders.
“Right, cafeteria, I need to wake up properly with some tea,” she said flatly in mock seriousness, attempting to lift the mood. Breaking away, she turned around to call for Dingo, whispering some instructions into his ear and watched him set off. The least she could do for now was to check on him .... even if she wasn't quite ready to meet him yet.
“Should I ask what happened, or should I not?” she picked up the conversation again as she started towards the cafeteria. Numbness? Shock? Denial? Either way the ghoul was not showing signs of obvious trauma just yet.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:28 am
"The same thing," Roch said quietly. "Pretty much. They opened the door after you were gone and I ran--think Moure ran. Then... we couldn't run any longer. I was caught. I was... turned into a weapon. I don't know about the other guys," he added as he started out for the cafeteria. "I turned into a double headed guitar. It sucked."
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:56 am
Edel's heart clenched for a moment as Roch recalled what happened to him and the rest ... did Moure experience the same horrible end as they did too? In response to the part about being turned into a guitar however, the ghoul simply raised her eyebrows and continued on.
The cafeteria was rather empty ... as to be expected, if the other students who underwent the trials experienced the same dream. Brushing past a stray reporter that was almost too shocked to see a student from the trials walking about the school again, Edel made a beeline for the counter and placed an order for an entire teapot of Darjeeling.
“No sugar.” she added. She would have it as bitter as possible to wake her up. “What about you?” she asked, turning around to face Roch. Oh, no, nevermind. “Ten burgers too please,” she told the lunch lady, gaining her a stare that she did not really care about. Glaring at the reporters telling them not to even dare and approach them, the ghoul carried the heavily laden tray and found a seat for them near a window. Staring at Roch as if she were about to ask a question but had forgotten what it was, Edel took to pouring herself a cup of tea and sipping it thoughtfully before placing it back on the table. For once, she didn't know what to say next.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 12:24 pm
He stared at the burgers, wondering if he was even hungry--then the smell hit his nose. He grabbed one, chowing down quickly. He was STARVING! Soon he was leaning back, only a few traces of ketchup and other things left where the food had been.
"Okay," he said finally. "So we won the top three for War--got no clue what happened with Death, but I seriously doubt we won that." He looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged. "It hurt. It was hellish. I don't think any of us are going to forget it anytime soon," he told her quietly. "But at least not everyone got... changed like we did."
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:39 am
Edel simply shrugged, unable to bring herself to care too much about winning the trials after what had happened. Or perhaps she did care, she cared about whether or not the school would be accepted by the Horsemen Clans for their exchange program. Bitter as she was about the way the message that they needed the Horsemen was put across, she had to admit that Amityville would be better off with the help of the Horsemen.
The ghoul had her eyebrow raised at Roch's last comment. “You mean some others met a different end?” she asked, pausing to pour more tea into her cup.
“That was my fault, I shouldn't have gone to talk to them. How could I forget – no, be so naive to think that it was only a Trial and never imagine that could have happened.” Edel burst out, sighed and turned to look away. “I've been a terrible team leader, leader in name more like. I can't face the others without feeling terribly guilty.” Not even Moure. Much less Rikki and Aksaja whom she didn't know too well.
“I'm so sorry.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:12 am
He was silent, wondering if he should tell her what Danny had told him. "I've ah... ran into a few people," he said quietly, "already. One was shot--her leg shot off, then shot in the throat. She choked to death. Another hid--she managed to not really even deal with the Hunters as far as I can tell, at least not like us. She sure as hell wasn't trapped and turned. So yeah, looks like there were different outcomes depending on what you did."
He looked at her. "Edel," he said quietly. "We learned something. And you're overestimating how much of a grudge an idiot can carry. I'll admit I don't know Aksaja that well, so I ain't gonna promise he'll be all grins, but I know Moure and I know Rikki. They'll forgive you, they probably already have. Moure LOVES you. He's probably panicking right now tryin' to find you and make sure it was just a dream. Rikki? Hell, he's probably cuddled up with Danny by now, recovering."
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:16 pm
It didn't take a lot of guesswork to figure out that one of the scenarios Roch had just told her had happened to Danny. As for which one specifically, there really wasn't any need to ask.
“Huh... ” she muttered, taking another sip of her tea.
“Do you think... I'm bad for him?” Edel stared at Roch meaningfully, thinking he might probably know what she meant.
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:16 am
He frowned, and suddenly he was remembering his own issue with demons. It was just a tiny one, but it stood out in his mind. "You know..." he said finally, "I thought I was in love with a demon for a while. A classy one--one that's definitely out of my league. That... hell, that would have never worked out, even if I really had been in love with her, and her with me. Maybe if my name still meant what they told me it used to--the whole uppercrust reaper thing. But now, I'm just a punk from the wrong part of Halloween."
He shrugged, thinking for a moment before he went on. "And I KNOW a lot of people want to tell you class don't matter, or species don't matter, or whatever--just as long as you got love. But I figure it might not matter to you, but it'll matter to a hell of a lot of other people. What you're gonna ask of him--just by bein' in love with him, and vice versa--is a hell of a lot. And he'll do his jackin' best to make you happy, but..." He shrugged, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "Don't convince yourself that it'll be easy for him, or you."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:30 am
Edel bit down on her lip and looked away, still listening to what Roch had to say. He was right, and she already knew that. A quick flashback to how her parents had reacted when they first met Moure .... it wasn't the best of meetings or the best of circumstances, but even if it had been in a different situation, she knew where they stood with that.
Roch was right, their relationship was going to be the hardest for Moure.
"At the end of this semester, both of us will be in Year 3..." There was very little time left if she wanted to do something about it. The ghoul was starting to piece things together, trying to form a plan. A cruel, but at the very least, a feasible plan.
"There may come a time where I may break his heart, ah ..." she paused to look at Roch with a serious expression, "It's alright if you're not on my side then."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 6:52 am
He stared at her. "You plannin' on somethin' that can get you in trouble?" he asked quietly. Then he frowned, thinking about it for a long moment. "I once thought that these ties were going to be gone after graduation," he said almost idly. "I sort of hope they are. But this ain't like a normal school. We've gone to war together too many times--we watched each other die too many times."
He leaned back in his chair, thinking a bit longer. He wasn't the smartest guy around, he'd be the first to admit it, but he knew some things about people. "Be careful," he said finally, "about what ties you cut. I keep cuttin' my own, so I know how easy it can be to do it--but when it's one of OURS," he said, moving his hand to indicate their circle, "one of the ones we've gone to hell and back with, you're riskin' a lot."
He looked at her, silent for a moment as he let her take that fact in.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:33 pm
“... Not exactly that kind of trouble, but I'll take your advice on that,” she said solemnly, though it was clear that she may or may not follow it. It was more than just the threat of hunters that plagued her mind at that point.
“Well I guess I should go and check up on the others soon, the results of the trials will be posted tomorrow so who knows,” she spoke quickly, eager to change the subject.
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:14 pm
"Yeah," Roch said, standing and stretching his arms over his head. "I think... I'm gonna go take a nap," he decided. "Rough night, y'know?" He reached out, touching her shoulder and giving her a slight smile. "I'm glad you're okay now... or, y'know, as okay as any of us are."
Then he turned and headed out, his hands in his pockets his shoulders squared.
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