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 Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:39 pm
Slender brown fingers tightened around the smooth metal of the flower pot she held and Orah gently worried her lower lip with her teeth, hovering outside the doorway of the hospital room she had come to visit. Inside was someone she very much wanted to see, but at the same time, was terrified of. Which was stupid, if she was honest with herself.
Laney was her friend. She was hurt and Orah was here to visit and make her stay a little less unpleasant. There shouldn't be anything more to it than that, but it felt like there was some great potential hovering in the background, looming over her. Some hold over from that day in the woods, before Christmas, when she'd broken down on Hvergelmir and in turn discovered the cracks in her facade as well.
She wasn't even supposed to be back yet... she had promised the thirtieth and the bridge in the park. Laney wasn't going to be expecting her and a small voice whispered that she hadn't even been missed. The world had not stopped turning and the Negaverse had not stopped its predations and what was one lone senshi hiding on her asteroid to contend with that? She hadn't been there for the party or the ambush, for her being taken captive and tortured. She barely been there for the rescue and she hadn't even caught a single glimpse of Hver the whole time...
Sudden doubt curved Orah's shoulders into a defensive hunch under her floppy striped sweater and she thought about leaving without going in, her feet shuffling anxiously in her chunky leather boots. What was to say Laney even wanted to see her after the upset she had caused her? Maybe the promise to come back had just been a way to keep her from abandoning her duty as a senshi wholesale... she had certainly thought about it.
Worry nipped at her, dragging her down into a frazzled bundle of nerves until a soft touch to her shoulder startled her out of it, wide brown eyes lifting to the concerned face of a nurse.
"Are you looking for someone?" The lady asked, sounding professionally polite. Orah felt her face heat. She'd been standing here staring at the door way like an idiot... who knew what the woman thought of her.
"No, um... I found the room. Thanks." She said as she offered up a tentative smile in the hopes the woman would give up and go away... which thankfully it did. After promising to come to the desk if she needed anything, Orah escaped into the quiet room with her flower pot clutched to her chest.
Inside, an empty bed stood out beside the door way, the curtain drawn between it and the occupied one nearer the window. The layout tugged at nostalgic chords in Orah as she padded forward, her boots making soft thunks on the bare floor. The smell, the sounds, the corners on the sheets... they all reminded her of another time when she had been one of the nurses out at that desk. It was almost soothing in its familiarity and the line of her body eased as she slowed to peek around the curtain with its accordion folds.
There... Laney was asleep in the bed, looking pale in the sunlight through the window. The stead rise and fall of her chest as a comforting sight, even if the bruises under her eyes were not. Those with a poetic bent might have described her like an angel fallen to Earth, pale and ethereal and perfect... but to Orah she just looked worn and young... and so very, achingly dear. Human and familiar, where Hvergelmir so often seemed much the Lady in the ivory tower.
Quieting her steps, the young woman went to set the potted orchid on the counter beside the bed, its lone branch of white flowers looking delicate and lovely in its oraganic curves against the sterile lines of the hospital room. The steady beep of machines was familiar, their pace comforting as she appropriated the sole chair that paired the bed to drag it close beside the sleeping woman. Not wanting to wake her, Orah settled for folding herself into the chair, her legs tucked up beside her as she draped herself over the edge of the hospital bed. It put her head about level with Laney's thighs and she folded her arms over the white sheets beside them, her cheek coming to rest on them and the curve of her forehead against the still leg beneath.
The contact was enough to settle her and Orah let out a long breath, content to wait in the quiet and stillness. This wasn't Ida, but... there was a different sort of peace here and something that had been lacking those few weeks she had been gone.
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:58 pm
A tug on her sheets brought her awake. The feeling was down by her legs --sheet pulling taut across the healing burn on her knee, enough pain to wake her, if not enough to sift through painkillers and make her cry out -- she came up from sleep in a woozy drift. The painkillers they had Laney on were pretty strong. They made her feel distant and nice. Someone, she noticed dimly, was here. Dark hair, someone tired. Someone familiar, especially when tired, someone she knew. Laney put a hand out to stroke fond, light fingers through her visitor's hair. "Princess," she whispered with a sleepy smile, though her brain told her it couldn't be -- Ida was far away and probably never coming back.
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:16 pm
Orah felt the body beside her shift and she looked up with a long blink, fingers sliding into her hair as she lifted her head. It sent a delicious chill down her spine, soothing and invigorating at the same time, and she reached to gently curl her own around the bruised wrist.
"Hello, Butterfly." She said softly, unable to help the smile that just sort of bloomed on its own. "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"
Princess... the title sounded more like an endearment from Laney and called up memories that made Orah ache inside and her breath catch. As horrible as the world had been... there were things she missed terribly. The good memories were fading into the realm of nostalgia now, wrapped in a warm, dreamy haze when she called them to mind.
Her fingers trailing lightly down Laney's forearm as she shifted them off the purple marks. Orah figured she should probably be upset... concerned over the injury her friend had taken and angry at those who had cause them, but right here and now... she felt buoyant with relief instead, like a little soap bubble. She was safe now, and though hurt, she was okay and would get better. Healing would take time and there would be scars seen and unseen... but she was alive and so much better than she could have been.
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 1:47 pm
Her throat felt a little dry -- mostly sleepiness, and the side effect of one of the drugs they had her on -- but Laney smiled, hoping this sweet apparition was as real as it seemed, and hers to keep. "'S'okay," she mumbled, enjoy the soft play of fingers down the skin of her arm. "I've been getting a lot of sleep." She shifted her arm, reaching for Orah's fingers, trying to catch them between her own. "You're not supposed to be back yet," she pointed out, still in a dreamy whisper, fairly certain she hadn't slept through any extra weeks without noticing. "Hi. Are you real?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:13 pm
Orah dropped her eyes as Laney astutely pointed out that she was a few weeks too early to be back, but the hopeful question drew out a warm laugh from the young woman as she sat back.
"They have you on the good stuff, don't they?" She chuckled as their fingers tangled together, alternating pale and dusky digits. Leaning, Orah reached crosswise for the goofy little rolling table all hospital beds had and the plastic mug of water resting on it, a ribbed straw sticking up from the top. She brought it back and offered it to Laney, leaning her ribs against the edge of the bed.
The camp had not had such nice drugs on hand as the city hospital, but then, it had had a crystal that would have faded these bruises already. There, she could have done something to actively make her friend better, been of some use to her... here, all she could do was hold her hand and offer her water for her dry throat. As ever these days, she felt the loss keenly.
"I'm real." She said as she gently squeezed the fingers she held, feeling bold enough to lift them and press her lips to the scraped knuckles. Orah's smile was tentative and shy this time as she lowered their hands. "Hi. I got a message on my phone while I was there, so I came back."
Back to life that marched ever on and a duty she had only set aside for a time. It had all been waiting for her to return... like Laney.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:38 am
"Mostly it just makes me sleepy," Laney disavowed. "But it does help with the pain." She blushed, too, at the soft press of Orah's lips to her knuckles. My parents could walk in at any minute, she thought hazily. I wonder what they'd make of me, blushing over one person's kisses while the person I went on a date with is a few rooms over.They were irritated enough about Xanthus and the whole way things had gone as it is. They didn't need more things to grill her about that she didn't want to answer. The water was relaxing, soothing her dry throat and bringing her more around to wakefulness. She drank eagerly, grateful for the help and the care. Orah had always been good at nurturing. "A message?" she asked curiously. "I, um . . . missed the whole -- I guess battle operation. What happened?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:15 am
As Laney came more awake, that soft moment of... something between them seemed to fade, making Orah mentally draw back and settle again into that skin of 'best friend'. Friends could hold hands and trade things like cheek kisses, there was no need for it to... be anything more than that.
She held the mug steady with practiced ease and patience, setting it aside when she was done.
"Liryn was at the party and after, he contacted Quenton and Ash with Arian. They sent out a mass message to all phones, letting everyone know what had happened and who was missing. They found some clues to where everyone was and then sent out another message to call everyone and we all sort of swooped in en masse to the rescue." Orah said as she settled back, her free arm tucked under her chest. "Getting in wasn't a whole lot of fun, all the moving things made for tricky footing. I made it to the first person and picked up a Seagull along the way."
Her lips curled at the word play, hoping Laney would pick up on the reference to Chariklo. She was trying to avoid coming straight out and saying things like 'prisoners' and 'fun house'... not just for the safety of their identities but for the triggers they contained. The horrible reality of what had happened was a giant elephant and she was loathe to let it into this cheerful, sunny room with them. She wanted to hold onto that soap-bubble feeling a little longer, even if it was fading fast...
"I wanted to find you..." She said softly. "But when I found Pisces instead... I couldn't leave her there. I wanted to go back in, but she and Chari were hurt and Chari was insistent someone look at my cuts and by the time I made it back... Everyone was leaving."
Orah blew a gusty breath between her lips, the corners of her mouth and eyes pinched. So much for that light-hearted feeling. Reality was a lot colder and harder.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:13 pm
Laney nodded along, listening to Orah's explanation -- who'd organized what, how it had all happened, why Ida had come back. As Orah's story went on, Laney could feel her neutral expression drawing a little tense; the fingers of her bandaged left hand fidgeting a little nervously against the hospital blanket. The drugs she was on did a pretty good job of keeping her calm, and she was doing well at putting the New Year's incident out of mind for the most part, like she did with the events at Mistral -- but something was bothering her. There'd been so many screams. So many. "You didn't have to come for me, Princess," she soothed, squeezing Orah's hand lightly. "I'm better off than most people. I got my own private limo out -- me and Xan -- everyone else needed more help." Hvergelmir hadn't had to be rescued by their allies. She'd had inside friends to look after her, make sure she got away alive. If the senshi and knights hadn't come, she and Kairatos still would've lived -- all the others would've died or been turned. They probably hadn't had the luxury of friends bringing them food or hope, the rest of them. Allies carrying messages to loved ones. Laney had no right to self-pity, compared to what it must have been like for the others that Ida and her allies had rescued. Or compared to what it must have been like for the ones whose rescue didn't come in time. The ones who didn't make it out whole, or maybe at all. Hvergelmir had been lucky. No. She'd been exactly what she'd made herself into -- someone who'd gotten more leeway, more consideration -- more protection -- because of the way she'd used her oath to make friends with the enemy. In the end, she'd been selfish, and made choices all along that had left her incapable of helping anyone except herself. "How many were there?" she asked, frowning. "They never let us see each other."
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 7:10 pm
Orah held Laney's hand and felt her fidget. She hated bringing up these horrible memories, but it had to happen eventually. If not because of her, then some other person or reason. At least she was here, their fingers entwined. Laney wasn't alone, or with someone who didn't care.
"I know... but I wanted to." She said as she ran her thumb along the side of her friend's, warming her skin with the gentle friction. Eyes on their hands, she thought about what they had learned, and what she had seen. That fun house had been full of horrors.
"I don't know for sure how many there were. We got nine people out counting you two, but there were at least three that... that we didn't. They were part of how we found out where you were." Orah's lips pursed as she went through the list in her head, trying to think about who Laney might know. "I didn't know everyone, but there was Ganymede, Valhalla and Penthesilea that I've met before. And now I've meet Pisces too."
Remembering how terrified Pisces had been, hurt and chained, called up her own memories of the same. Now Laney knew what it was like too... something they had in common that she would have given much not to share with her. Lowering her head, she pressed her cheek to their joined hands.
"We saved them though... and however you got out, you did and you're okay. I'm really glad you're okay." She murmured. She didn't want to ask what had happened there... as much as she wanted to know.
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:21 am
Nine people, including her and Kairatos. That was seven that Laney had done nothing for, seven people she'd left behind to save her own self instead. Seven people she couldn't have helped even if she hadn't been captive; seven people she'd sworn an oath not to help if a Negaverse agent stood in the way. Laney squeezed Orah's hand. "Three," she mumbled to herself. 'They were part of how we found out where you were.' What did that mean? Had they been corrupted? Had they been...? Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. Fell. Three people. More people lost than Hvergelmir had ever managed to save. (She'd never saved anyone. Night after night in the park, on the streets, wearing her oath -- Hvergelmir had never saved a single soul. It was such a failed effort.) "What happened to the three?" she asked, struggling for words.
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 1:58 pm
"Oh, sweet heart..." Orah breathed as she saw the tears start to fall, aching inside at the sight. It was awkward to keep her hand in Laney's as she rose to go for the box of tissues on the counter, but she managed to stretch just far enough to grab the whole box. These she dropped into the blanket covered lap and finally, reluctantly, disentangled their fingers.
She needed both hands free to work the catches that lowered the railing along the side of the bed, dropping it down and out of the way in a practiced and familiar way. Next, oddly enough, was the removal of the leather boots she wore till she stood in stocking feet.
Gently, aware of how delicate Laney was right now, Orah slid herself into the sliver of bed beside her, all her weight on her hip and not against the injured woman. Her lower arm was slid delicately between girl and bed as Orah drew her carefully into her hold, ever so gently wrapping her in her arms.
Her fingers feathered gently down the side of her face, brushing her hair gently back.
"One was a body they had pulled the starseed from... the other two... were youma, when we found them. We had to fight through them." Orah murmured softly, keeping her voice low for just their ears.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:59 am
Laney let out a hard, dismayed sob and turned her body to bury her face in Orah's shoulder. Youma -- two were youma. Were turned into youma. She couldn't help her shivering. There was no reincarnation for a dusted youma, nothing left but to rise and rise again in the belly of the Rift. When they finally met their true end, there would be no life to come in a thousand years for the two who'd been lost that way; they'd simply cease to be. Forever. No second chances. A death beyond even death. "They fed them starseeds," she mumbled into Orah's shirt, clinging. "They pulled the starseed from one of the captives and fed it to another one. They -- it was horrible. Orah, I was so scared -- I -- " There didn't seem to be words enough to summarize what she was feeling, what she'd already felt. " I don't want to die," she wailed. " I don't want anyone to die."
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 8:33 pm
Feeling Laney turn into her, Orah wrapped both arms around her and hugged her tightly. Through her shivering, she held her, feeling her own rise of emotion and struggling to keep in down. She needed to be strong... even when Laney cried out and it was an echo of her own words. It was like she held herself, then, and she knew intimately how she felt.
I said the same thing to Titan. She thought as she stroked her fingers through the soft, pearl hair. He told me everyone is fated to die, that it was better to focus on living well rather than living longer, but it wasn't comforting to me. I doubt it will be comforting to her.
"I know." She said miserably. There were no reassurances she could give... she could promise no one would die, that they could keep everyone safe, but it would be a lie. Everyone would die... most of them from the war they fought. "I know how it feels. I'm sorry."
I want to keep you safe, but how can I? I couldn't last time, and I was a princess then. Now I'm just one woman, and I'm broken besides... Orah sighed softly, breath stirring pale strands of hair.
"I would have saved you from it, taken your place even, if I could have. I've seen someone changed into a youma before, had my life threatened by them. I wish I could shield you from it... " She had to settle for holding her instead and regretting she wasn't Naeryofjord, or Kairatos. Either of them could have enfolded the smaller woman with more ease, held her more securely, and they had the benefit of already holding her heart. Orah felt distinctly inadequate in that moment, but she tried.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 8:10 pm
It was often hard for Laney to make sense of her own feelings. They felt powerful, usually, and complicated -- and they made her nervous, more often than not. If feeling things was hard, doing things about it was harder. All her urges told her to shove her problems in boxes and ignore them, to find distractions. To wrap her hands around other people's problems instead, because they were less personal. It was only Carmine's quiet, patient urging that kept those desires at bay. Laney didn't want to solve right now. She just wanted to feel and cry and be hugged. It was just more complicated than that. Laney wanted to be held. Comforted. But absolutely not shielded. Not replaced. Not benched like a bad baseball player. It was hard enough from her parents. Hard enough from Tara. The very thought made her want to shove Orah away and forbid her from ever coming back. "Don't say that," she shook her head into Orah's shirt, voice still garbled. "Don't ever say that. Just stay with me till I fall asleep. Please?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:57 pm
"Sorry." Orah said softly as she shifted, settling Laney into a position more comfortable for them both. Something she could hold her in without having her arms to go numb or make her hips ache, and risk having to move and wake her again.
She should learn to just not say anything at all, she decided. It just... never went quite how she wanted it to. As well meant as it had been... it hadn't been a comfort, obviously. I used to be better at this.
"Alright... I'll stay." She said as she relaxed her hold, her touch light. Orah's lashes lowered over her eyes as she ran her finger's through the pale hair to set it to rights, smoothing it away from her face and over her shoulders. "Go back to sleep, Laney... It'll be okay."
Hopefully.
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