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 Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:33 am
When he awoke, it was to complete and utter confusion.
His eyelids felt heavy, his cheeks slightly damp, and as Gale forced his eyes open, he became aware that he was neither in his bed nor in his own home. The room around him was vaguely familiar, but simultaneously unfamiliar, lying in a bed that he did not recognize.
At first he did not understand what was going on, and he lay there silently, still half entrenched in the place between sleeping and awake, drifting in and out as he began to slowly shift to awake.
Everything that had happened last night came slamming into him all over again.
Ceres was dead. Marcus was cemented.
Bix was dead.
The pain, the anxiety, the overwhelming, blackening feeling of grief and despair seemed to sink into his very bones, and Gale's fingers clenched on the sheet, burying his face into the blankets as a sob wracked his body.
After a few moments, he managed to get himself under control, and gave a great, shuddering gasp of breath, closing his eyes briefly. He spread a hand across the sheets, which were silken and fine, very good quality, and wondered whose bed he was laying in. Vaguely he could remember hugging Eva, crying into her shoulder - but this wasn't Eva's room - and then he could remember...Candace coming over, her expression stricken...
He didn't remember coming here, but if he could guess, he would have said it was Candace's room. Gale did not lift his head, but let out his breath slowly, closing his eyes and wishing he were anywhere else, some place that had Bix.
The world was ending and had taken the one person Gale trusted with it.
"...Candace...?" he called, his voice low and hoarse.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:31 pm
Crying to Molly had helped, she'd gotten it out and calmed down. Candace wouldn't be crying on anyone else anytime soon if all went well. She had checked on Gale a few times to make sure he was still there, still asleep and still alive. He was okay. They would all be okay. They would overcome this and move on like they always did, this was just another obstacle they had to plow through like a stampeding herd of elephants like they always did. Candace sat quietly on her couch with Atropos' tablet, her back against an arm of the sofa and her legs bent so the tablet was propped up against them in an upright position. What were they going to do without their weapons? They could still train, do the courses that didn't require fighting such as Princess Isle, Battle Arena and Deathsweeper...the three courses that she needed to pass. They could spend their time doing research, working, getting their weapons back.
Those goddamn creatures would get what they deserved. She would make damn sure of that. And on top of that she needed to see Aria, to see if she knew about what happened to Hunters when they..ugh. Did Aria know? She didn't want to tell her but she had to know. They had to find some kind of cure for Lance, they just had to. And now that she was all cried out and rested her head was clearer. She could be strong for people like Gale. Just shove everything away, don't let it bother you, Candace...
She heard the call of her name through the open door of her bedroom, quickly gathering up her tablet and pocketing it before heading straight for her room. Candace didn't stop until she was sitting on the edge of her bed beside Gale with a soft smile, reaching out to lightly move his bangs out of his face. "I'm here. How are you feeling?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:25 pm
For a second, he didn't hear anything at all, and wondered if Candace had gone out, a strange, deep sense of longing welling in the pit of Gale's stomach.
He wanted to be alone.
He didn't want to be alone.
He wanted things to be the way they had been before, but that would never happen again. He needed to get his head out of the black cloud and move forward, move past -
- no. He couldn't do it.
The door opened wider, letting light into the darkness, and the familiar figure of his "older sister" appeared, her expression gentle as she sat beside him. Her long, dark fingers felt cool against his forehead, and Gale closed his eyes briefly, exhaling slowly. There were few people he could be comfortable around right now, and Candace was one of them.
"Tired," he mumbled, looking away. His chest hurt. "Really tired."
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:41 am
Candace expected that answer; she expected anything that could be translated to 'I feel like s**t thanks for asking'. With a soft sigh she kicked off her shoes and turned so her back was against the headboard, bringing her legs up onto the bed and gently pulling Gale closer. "We're all tired." She replied gently, her intention not to sound scolding or offensive. It was a simple fact, they were all tired, they could relate to someone saying they weren't feeling too well. "I put Jinhai on the bedside table." Candace added so as to prevent any kind of future panic if he didn't know where his weapon tablet was.
She fell quiet after that, not saying a word and simply petting Gale's hair. She wouldn't make him talk unless he wanted to. Her poor Gale. They were all tired, all hurting, and she already missed Bix and Ceres now that it was starting to settle in that they were...dead..but Candace had a feeling no one was quite as hurt by it as Gale. He and Bix had been so close. Candace quickly wiped away at a bit of moisture just below her eyes, stifling a sniffle and rubbing her lips together. Don't think about it. Be strong. For Gale, for everyone who was tired and wanted to just cry right now.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:34 am
He let her pull him closer, not having the strength nor the desire to pull away or to even scowl in embarrassment. Instead, he let his head rest against Candace's shoulder, staring off into the darkness of the room.
"Thank you," he said, in answer to Jinhai. He wished, desperately, that he could hear the dragon's voice, and for a moment he almost thought he had, could feel a faint thrum from the direction of the tablet.
But there was nothing, and it had just been his imagination after all.
Gale gave a small sigh and closed his eyes. Then he said, a note of anger in his voice, "Bix is stupid."
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:37 am
As Gale sighed, Candace closed her eyes and turned her head to press a kiss against the top of his head, still playing with his hair even as he spoke. She frowned at first. There were 'steps' to grieving, right? Stages? Gale seemed to be at the anger phase. It tore at her heart to see him like this, her little Gale. "Incredibly." She finally agreed with a hint of amusement, beginning to gently sway side to side with Gale.
"You know when he lost his braid he thought about having it buried in the cemetery?" She asked with a grin, trying to lift Gale's spirits with silly little memories. Think about happy things! Candace hugged him tightly, reassuring herself that Gale was real and alive, this wasn't some stupid hallucination. "I love you so much." She whispered, keeping her face buried in Gale's hair. He was one of the ones she would be inconsolable if she suddenly lost him, a thought she didn't often entertain because she would rather not, but circumstances often forced it to the forefront of her mind. She would be sad for just about anyone, angry if they were killed by one of those things, but there were few on the island she could imagine herself being a mess about like this. Gale was definitely one of them. She wouldn't let any of them touch a single hair on his head.
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:17 pm
Gale gave a small snort, despite the fact that his eyes felt damp. He blinked rapidly, attempting to keep the tears from falling, and breathed slowly and deeply, twisting the sleeve of his shirt to distract himself.
"He would do that," he said, but his heart gave a pang, and he sighed, leaning against Candace. Out of all the people he had thought he would be close with, Candace had never been one of them. She had been abrasive and dismissive in the beginning, and he had never thought that she had thought very highly of him. He had kept his distance, and so had she.
Now he was just glad that she was here and she was someone alive, someone he could rely on, and someone he could be himself around without ever having to worry about what she thought.
"Yeah," he said quietly, and blinked again, his lashes feeling heavy and wet. "You too."
He wondered if they had buried Bix and Ceres yet.
"You know, he..." said Gale abruptly. "He liked her. Ceres. He never told me outright, but I could tell from the way he talked about her. He liked her a lot."
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 2:51 pm
Candace let Gale lean on her, petting his hair and keeping up the gentle side-to-side rock she had started with him. It made her happy to hear him agree he loved her, she even gave the top of his head another kiss. It would be okay, Gale. It would be okay. He could cry if he wanted to, she would let him, but she would do her best to comfort him if he did. Gale was one of the few people Candace wouldn't feel distraught and uncomfortable being around as they cried. Bix liked Ceres? She had no idea! But that was cute...Ceres was a good girl, and Bix was a nice guy. Kind of awkward but he was nice enough. Candace smiled and gave Gale a squeeze. "I didn't know Ceres as well as I'd have liked but..I'm sure they'd have been cute together." She chuckled and then sighed, falling quiet again. She wasn't quite sure what to say. kurotomato WOW I HAD NO IDEA YOU TAGGED ME I AM SO SORRY
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