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 Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 11:14 am
While Arilee had been in the hospital before, it had usually been quick visits. Maybe she'd end up wasting the day sitting in the ER while she got stitched up or the doctors made sure her concussions weren't too bad.
This was the first time she could ever remember being admitted overnight. The nice doc who'd stitched up her face and thigh had been muttering something about maniacs and wanting to make sure that the animal that had attacked her hadn't been rabid. So here she was, hooked up to an IV line, bruised, though happily not bloody. The hospital staff had seen to it that she'd gotten at least a marginal wash.
And meanwhile, Bianca's body was downstairs somewhere cooling while morgue techs and police examined her. Tears began to stream silently as she thought about the swarm of people around Bianca once the police had shown up after Arilee's call.
Well, at least the police had already finished questioning her. Sure, her story was wild, but once they got done checking over Bianca, they write her off as a suspect. Hopefully.
She needed a distraction. She'd called Ava. She needed Ava here or the grief was going to eat her alive.
"C'mon, babe. Where are you," she murmured under her breath, twitching restlessly in the hospital bed.
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:17 pm
Hearing her girlfriend was in the hospital had sent Avacyn into nothing short of a full-on panic. She raced to the hospital, heart pounding the entire time. This was not okay, no no no, absolutely unacceptable. Arilee was supposed to be the strong one, and the idea that there was someone or something who could best her had fearful Ava absolutely terrified.
It took some begging and pleading, but she got herself let into the other girl's room. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of Arilee on a hospital bed, stitched up and still looking obviously worse for the wear.
"Oh, my God, who did this to you?" She asked, fear twisting her stomach as much as it did her heart.
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:28 am
The second Ava had hit the door and come hurrying in, it had taken a supreme act of will plus a mental reminder of how much a torn IV would hurt to keep Arilee from leaping out of the bed and diving for her girlfriend. Instead, she flicked her eyes at the door and back to Ava's face before just holding her arms out, child-like, and begging for a hug. They couldn't talk freely about what had really happened. Not here.
Instead, she opened her mouth to shoot out a typical bit of sass and found herself sobbing and clutching for Ava's reassuring presence.
"She's gone, Ava. She's gone and it's all my fault because I couldn't get to her in time. Bianca's dead because I lost her and some goddamn creep killed her!"
Later, she'd feel abashed at losing her control and crying. After all, Arilee Selvig never cried. At least, never where people could see. In this case, she decided she was more than allowed some tears and freaking.
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 9:24 pm
Ava slid into Arilee's arms, burying her face against her girlfriend's neck and holding on as tight as she could. She reached up to stroke Ari's hair, a small soothing gesture she could make.
The grief hit her like a freight train, and she wanted, right then, to cry all over Ari herself, but she had to reign it in at least for the moment - having them both sobbing wouldn't do much. It was hard, though. Bianca was - Bianca was sweet and kind and wonderful and it seemed so wrong to think this war had taken her.
"I'm sure you did everything you could," she said, because if she knew Chariklo, she knew she wouldn't let someone die without a hard fight. "And we'll find this creep and we'll make him regret it!"
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Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 5:23 am
Fingers clutched at Ava as if she were a life preserver. Shaking and crying, she held onto Ava, knowing that if she let go right now, the grief and the guilt would drown her. On one level, she heard Ava speaking reassurances. In another, her memory was playing the scene over and over. Crashing through in time to see Bianca's starseed ripped from her body. Shivering, her grip on her girlfriend tightened.
And then she jerked back as Ava promised to help her track down the General. Only Ava didn't know. Stared at her girlfriend as if she'd suddenly sprouted a second head and third arm. If she let Ava go after him, he'd kill her too and no. No. She wasn't letting that happen.
Grabbing Ava's arms as they still circled her, Arilee leaned in close to whisper, hoping that no nurse would pick that moment to wander in to check on her.
"He had her starseed and he was torturing her before I got there. I wasn't in time to stop him. Jesus, Ava, he's ******** crazy. And he was a General."
She paused to let that sink in, still shaking from reaction. Afraid to come clean and tell her girlfriend that she'd made a decision to leave Bianca's starseed in favor of trying to get herself out alive with Bianca's body if she could. Would Ava see a monster when she learned how coldly pragmatic Chariklo had been in those few panicked minutes? Arilee was fairly certain that she'd lose whatever grasp she had on sanity if that happened. She couldn't lose Ava too.
Still, neither could she live with herself if she wasn't completely honest. So, still whispering, she told Ava everything. The youma, the race in the bell tower. Even the choking scent of the gasoline as it had been splashed onto Bianca. Everything. Including how s**t-scared she'd been and still was. After all, it wasn't everyday that one met a complete ******** psychopath.
"It's all my fault, Ava. I wasn't fast enough."
Only now did she lean back into the pillow, obviously bracing for the condemnation that she was absolutely sure would come.
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Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:21 pm
Ava felt her heart sink the more Arilee told her. Alright, so perhaps her grand plans of badass karmic retribution were all for naught, because the idea of facing a psychotic Negaverse General - it just made her afraid. She made a small, mousy squeak, sinking into Ari's embrace and finally letting her tears well up.
Bianca's last moments had been a horrifying, painful nightmare, and she knew it. And God help her, she couldn't even imagine having that happen to her - and she didn't want to. She wanted to stay as far from that General as possible.
And she couldn't even think for a moment to blame Arilee for not staying behind, for saving Bianca's body and herself rather than risking it all in a blazing church where the General had every advantage.
"You did the right thing," she said, her voice soft and gentle. "And I'm just...I'm so glad you're okay." She couldn't have lost both of them, not all at once.
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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:53 am
Arilee felt herself blinking stupidly for a moment before she started sobbing again as she reached for Ava. Only this time, the crying was bringing her a release of tension. Ava didn't hate her. And Ava wasn't leaving. After a few minutes, she sniffled and wiped a shaky hand across her eyes.
"'m not sure I did the exactly right thing," she admitted softly. "Never should have chased that youma. And...," she went quiet for a moment as a nurse poked her head into the room to check on her before scurrying off to find a box of tissue for her. "Ava, something else happened. When I was still in Mirrorspace. Something weird."
The nurse came back and gave her the tissues before checking her over and making sure she was comfortable, then left again. Arilee gave it about five minutes before she felt like it was safe to continue.
"One of the mirrors, I... God, it sounds crazy, but I found something in one of the mirrors. Weird ear cuff thing. I just tucked it away until I could have time to think about it. Is Mirrorspace supposed to do s**t like that?"
She had no idea and didn't expect Ava to know either. But talking about it helped and provided a welcome distraction from the knowledge that no matter what Ava said to the contrary, Arilee had failed on more than one level tonight.
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 6:01 pm
"Maybe, but you had no idea what was going to happen," Ava said, her fingers gently stroking through Ari's hair. She kissed the top of her girlfriend's head, a wan smile on her face.
The other bit of information, though, was interesting, and she sat back, briefly letting go as she pondered what the blonde had said. Still, she reached out one hand to hang onto Arilee's, because completely letting go was not happening for a long while.
"It's never done that for me, but I've also only really..stayed in mirrorspace once." She tilted her head to the side. "That is pretty neat, though."
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 6:40 am
With a soft sigh, Arilee wrapped her arms around Ava's waist as best she could and simply rested her cheek against her girlfriend, eyes closing as she listened to Ava's heartbeat. She felt Ava's fingers curl around one of her hands and smiled dozily.
"I suppose it was kind of neat. But weird and a little scary. I'll show you the thing later."
She grew quiet for a moment before continuing in a soft, almost hesitant voice, "Please stay with me? Not just tonight, but when I get checked out. Please come stay with me. I don't want to be alone. Sanskrit puppy lovin's are great and all, but I need you with me, Ava. I need you with me always..."
Shock and bone deep exhaustion swooped in to carry Arilee off into sleep as she spoke. Still clutching Ava's hand, she gradually sank back against her pillows as her eyes flickered shut. There was more she wanted to say and her mouth opened to try and say it. But all that came out was a gentle snore.
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