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 Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:15 am
It was too much to think that once Colin pieced together what had happened that Nadia wouldn't hear about it - and he'd wanted to tell her himself, so he had. He'd taken on the extra effort to call her rather than send a text, too, as much as his fingers shook doing it because texts were just easier for him than the faceless verbal exchanges that came with a phone call. But a simple text just didn't feel right; she deserved more than that.
He'd made sure to note on the phone that everything looked and sounded worse than it actually was, which wasn't really a lie. Lorne knew he hadn't really had a heart attack, much as his chest still ached in waves, and he'd been given painkillers to help with everything else. Tomorrow would probably be worse, he'd been warned, because the swelling on all the bruises and breaks would be worse than it was now... but again, painkillers. Magical things, really.
It looked bad, but he'd be okay. That was the important thing. He was really going to be just fine, no permanent damage, bar the slight risk of a scar on his nose from the blow. His ring had traces of his own blood on it, dried and caked.
It looked worse than it was. It could be washed. It would be fine.
A part of him thought about shooting a message to Auguste or Isaiah or both, too, just to keep them in the loop - but Colin probably had that one covered, and honestly even if Lorne's phone wasn't running on less than twenty-five percent with his charger still sitting at home, he was exhausted. The last thing he really wanted to do was stare at a digital screen for longer than he had to. He thought about just calling Kyle, but he also knew how that was going to go, so he went ahead and round-about got in touch with Niall instead, asking him to keep his cousin busy for the night. Lorne would probably be discharged tomorrow, and it would just be better for everyone if Kyle didn't find out until Lorne was in a position to hug him and tell him truly that everything was fine.
Whether or not it really was...
It wasn't. It really wasn't okay at all. None of it.
But if there was one thing Lorne was good at, it was less lying and more avoidance. He was not ready to deal with what had happened to him today, and so, he didn't. He took care of who he did and didn't have to tell, and with that settled, he leaned back against his pillows and turned on the TV, slowly sipping at the ice water they'd given him through a bendy straw. It was white with purple stripes. The show was some reality thing with a bunch of women bickering.
And he waited.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:06 pm
There was a loud banging, and it wasn't coming from Lorne's TV anymore. In a flurry of dark hair, and wild blue eyes, Nadia...his girlfriend had arrived after harassing all the nurses, almost strangling one and finally being allowed to visit him.
When she came to his beside, she angrily yelled at him. In Russian.
"О, как вы смеете называть меня , как это вы мудак !! Я ДОЛЖЕН задушить Вас , пока вы спите !!" She waved her hands, each word enunciated with the threat.
Once she was done, she crossed her arms and looked at him.
"You're an idiot." She sniffed, as tears formed in her eyes. Oh god, she didn't usually get emotional, but seeing her boyfriend in the hospital bed, with bruises and the casts and the gown and pale and not healthy Lorne made her angry and sad and just....
"What...Happened? You didn't really tell me on the phone."
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:58 pm
If it was anyone else, that banging and yelling probably would have had him shrinking away, cringing and wincing like he tended to when things got intense. Nadia was different; although he didn't understand what she was saying while she was yelling at him, even as guilt churned away in those vibrant yellow eyes and his gaze dropped to his lap for a few fleeting seconds, cheeks burning, he didn't shy away. It could've been that he half-expected yelling to be the default after the way Colin had reacted.
The reality of it, he realized, was that he hadn't realized how happy he'd be to see her until she was standing there in front of him. Even if she was mad at him... as much as he hated any kind of conflict, especially with people he loved, he'd almost lost her that night. - almost lost everyone.
It was probably the first time in his life Lorne wished someone would keep yelling at him - it would have been better than seeing her cry because of him. "I am, " and he said the words softly, but didn't stumble. He sounded a little more nasally than usual thanks to the damage Xenotime had done to his nose, bandaged and set now, but bruises were already settling in like raccoon rings around his eyes, stark against his pale skin. "I'm sorry Nadia."
He fidgeted with his cast, one that started around his wrist and encircled two fingers, the two that Xenotime had snapped. All things considered, ignoring the greater repercussions of what the general had done to his starseed and what she'd intended to do when she'd chased him down, it could've been worse. It could've been so much worse.
(That was what scared him.)
"I'll tell you, " he promised, then extended the arm that, while bruised still, had no breaks or fractures to speak of. "But first, please - come sit with me?" There was just a touch of pleading in his eyes.
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:58 pm
She sniffed again and made more angry comments in russian but the full amount of damage to him was heartbreaking. He was so stupid. WHAT HAD HE BEEN THINKING? Isn't this why they formed the Team? Isn't this why they made the family of saturn knights and senshi? To stop situations from happening. To stop Plou from happening again.
She sniffed a last time and then brushed any wetness away. She did not curl into the bed or attempt to climb into it, but she pushed the chair as close as she could. Not before she reached over and gently took his face, kissing lips. It was the barest of any kisses as his face was well on its way to coloring and she assumed by the bandages, that his nose was the most damaged of it all.
She would make whoever did this to her boyfriend pay.
"I'm right here, stupid." She said again and then sat down, "I can stay the night if you want? I don't mind. No work tomorrow."
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Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:10 am
If only she knew just how much Ploutonion actually had to do with this - and conversely, how he'd stopped it from being so much worse.
He wished she could have just climbed in the bed. Lorne would've given almost anything to have her closer, but it would have to wait - it would just have to wait until he was home and safe, and then maybe - even the kiss, reassuring and warm as it was, just was not enough for him. He wanted to feel her. He wanted to hold on and never let go.
Not that he said any of this out loud. But his eyes might have said it for him. He reached out without her needing to and took her hand in his own, the one that lacked a cast; it happened to sport his bloodied ring, but at least the blood was dried and hardly recognizable. Better than the other hand by far.
"Please don't cry - I hate to see you cry, ma chérie," he said softly, coaxing a smile, warm and gentle, for her. For a moment, he looked conflicted. Because Lorne never wanted to trouble her, never wanted to put her in any kind of discomfort or inconvenience her but -
He was a terrible liar. So this once, he didn't bother trying. "I - please, I - don't really want to be - I don't want to be alone," he admitted with his gaze dropping.
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:49 pm
"Well what do you expect?" She frowned, "I certainly will not smile with you in bed, and injured and hurting." She sighed. "It's hard to smile when underneath it all, I'm boiling in rage."
She clutched the chair's arm rest. "You weren't suppose to be." She huffed, "You have a team of members to take with you, what were you thinking?"
She whipped out her cellphone, sending a text message to Auguste to let him know that she wouldn't be home, and to call Colin and ask if he would stay with the young man tonight.
While she trusted that Auguste and Pasha would be fine, she thought the younger man would be lonely and worried.
"Tell me now, who did this? How did this happen?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 9:01 pm
Lorne felt a pang of guilt when she mentioned that she was boiling in rage, and he eased over, his fingers touching her's as she clutched the chair. "I'm sorry, " he murmured, glancing down and then back at her. "I was, uh - I was on my way to meet Colin when - " His cheeks burned. "I texted him already - I would have messaged you first, but I didn't want to leave him waiting, " just in case that needed saying. "We were supposed to patrol together, something just - I don't know."
No, he did know. He was just fumbling, the way he always did.
He let her do what she had to with her phone, which was fine; another wave of pain from his chest swept over him, and he tried hard to keep himself composed as she looked at her screen, his breath growing slightly more strained for a moment or two, fingers curling tight in his sheets and shaking lightly.
More or less, bar looking a shade paler and a little more drawn and sweaty than he had a moment before, Lorne was about as okay as he'd ever been when she looked back again. "I, uh - " His cheeks burned and he sucked in a sharp breath, focusing. "I-I was going to meet Colin." He'd said that already. "A general attacked me. - Xenotime was her name. She was - she's one of the people holding Ploutonion. She - she recognized me from the train."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:02 am
She couldn't doubt Lorne for going to Colin, after all, that was why the were team members. To patrol with each other, helped keep them alive.
However, when the mention of Ploutonion arose, as well as the general that kept him captive, she was up again and her fingers curled in the sheet again.
"You told me...." She looked at him, "You told me about her. From the train. You told me that you wouldn't go looking for her..." Her voice was quiet, in the dangerous sort of way. Quiet in the, she understood that he had been attacked but what were the odds of him being attacked by the same general that coincidentally held one of their former members in her ranks.
She was shaking. Anger at herself, anger at Xenotime...Anger at Lorne because he felt this mission so strongly.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 1:58 pm
Lorne winced, although not from any degree of pain. But for this one matter, his answer did not catch on his tongue, much as his face flushed as was typical of him; he could only imagine what she must be thinking in that moment, after all.
"I kept my promise to you, Nadia, " and he needed her to know that. He needed her to know that he had in no way, shape, or form sought this for himself. "I swear it. When I felt a general nearby, I walked away. - and then ran when I realized she was approaching. I tried my magic, I tried to call for help, I - I didn't want - "
Without realizing it, his voice had taken on a tremor, laced with an almost frantic edge, his fingers curling too hard in his own sheets. Lorne cut himself off from saying any more just then, taking a moment to look down and take a deep breath, because that hardly lent itself to his assurances of fine. "I did not want this, " and for his best efforts, he sounded less frantic, yes, but drawn - drawn and tired.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 11:07 pm
Nadia clenched her hands in her leggings and then let go, taking a deep breath.
"I...I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I just..." She trusted him, she did. She needed to hear from him though, and sometimes she hated that part of her. She didn't want to fight with him, but her heart had never ached at the sight of someone before. Ached so bad, she felt every single one of his injuries as her own. She hated not knowing, and being left out.
She took his face gently and rested her cheek against his. "I'm sorry, Lorne. I should've never said that." She brushed her fingers over his cheek. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm angry and scared and pissed. It's not your fault. Please tell me the rest. How did you get away? From the general?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:46 pm
The touch made him sigh, both out of relief and something much heavier than that, shifting the weight that had been sitting on - in - his chest ever since the whole incident with Xenotime had gone down. He tilted his head to a side and pressed his cheek more firmly to hers, as though it were more of an embrace rather than a simple touching of cheeks. It wasn't like she could just up and hug him right now.
"You don't have to apologize." He reached out to catch her wrist, imploring her without words to keep her hand where it was. "Yes you should have. I - you - it's not an unfair question, " and that was the best way he could think to say it. No, nothing about her question had been unreasonable. He was just -
"Ploutonion came." He drew in a too sharp breath and blinked once or twice, trying to keep his eyes clear of any trace of tears. His lips pursed together for a moment before he continued on, "He came and stopped her and took me to the hospital."
If it wasn't for that, he'd be -
He sometimes envied Nadia a little, really. Being able to just say it - 'I'm angry and scared and pissed.' She was so much more - vibrant? - than he was in that way. When she felt something, she could articulate it. She could put it into words and actions and act on them.
He couldn't even begin to put what he was feeling right now into words. It was taking all he had just not to cry.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:05 pm
His catch of her hand, had it resting against his cheek longer, running the fingers down his narrow bones of his face.
"Oh." Her hands didn't stop the gentle touching, but her reaction was far less then pleased. She was just...not happy with the whole situation at hand. The whole consequence that was Plou and just....
"He saved you then?" She gnawed on her lip. Why would he save them? But not come back to the side of order? What did it mean? "Why?" The word escaped before she could stop it and she cringed. "I am just..." She was growing wary.
It was hard for the woman to admit, relaxed as she usually was. But after coming to care for Lorne, becoming wary was the only way to ensure safety of their numbers.
"When did he leave?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:30 pm
Why? Lorne looked puzzled, as though he couldn't understand why she'd even ask such a thing. "Because - we're friends?" he offered softly, not as though he thought Nadia was silly for asking, but more because he could not comprehend why she would need to ask. "The general that attacked, it - she wanted to - "
He bit his lower lip, trying to bite back the quiver in his voice. Lorne wanted to reassure her, not upset her more. "He left me about a block from the hospital, I - really wasn't hurt so badly that I couldn't - I was just drained from - " He smiled weakly, gestured vaguely, and shrugged. "He couldn't exactly take me in the front door as I was then, you know?"
Lorne took a deep breath. "In any case, I should just be here for tonight. There's not really much wrong with me, they just kind of wanted to... observe, was all."
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:50 pm
"Was." She looked at Lorne. "He was your friend." She just couldn't shake the feeling down in her stomach. The one that made her sick and made her feel guilty and terrible. Something deep in her that resonated that Plou had become wrong.
"He's someone else, and for someone, who is in trouble with the negaverse...." She shook her head, "Helping us is a suicide mission. Why is he trying?" She just couldn't fathom that. Perhaps it made her a terrible human being for having that...survival in her bones.
"I will stay tonight!" She brightened and then left for a moment. She returned a second later with one of the sleeper chairs meant for overnight stays and parked it on the side that would be out of the way for the nurses.
"Does Colin know?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:54 pm
To hear that from Nadia took him by surprise, and it showed, his yellow eyes widening enough that the whites showed at the edges. "Why would you say that?" and he didn't exactly sound angry; it took a very special set of circumstances to make Lorne Benoit angry, and he didn't know if Nadia could ever fit that bill. But disbelieving, shocked, and perhaps even a little pained - because -
It took him as long as it took her to get the chair to even begin processing his line of thought, and when he did - he less thought, more spat out the piece of the puzzle he'd been withholding -
"She was trying to corrupt me, Nadia."
She was trying to move on, trying to brighten for him. But he was clutching the sheets hard in each fist, staring down at the sterile white fabric and feeling the world blur as he teared up. He shut his eyes to try and force it back. "Corrupt me or kill me. She was going to. She had her damn hand in my chest, she was - she was calling Laurelite, she was - "
His breath was shallow, his face pale, and he wasn't quite sobbing, but he was bordering on it, trying desperately to cling to the last vestiges of the half-formed dam he'd tried to forge for himself. It was crumbling. He pressed a hand to his eyes and choked on his own breath. "Ploutonion's the only damn reason I'm even still me! Of course he knows it's suicide! But he cares about us, so he does it anyway - he - he could be - Nadia, please - "
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