Comments | beyondtherift: To be or not to be

brandedfirst in beyondtherift

To be or not to be

Feb 25, 2008 12:29

Brando has been busier than ever. There is always some crisis or another that needs taken care of either here or in other places, but he realizes that there are people who probably need to talk to him in the basement ( Read more... )

the doctor (ten), lavendar, brando, regulus black, becky trapper

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worseforfears February 26 2008, 02:59:30 UTC

She should talk with him, really. About... lots of things.

She doesn't really want to, though. And she gets the feeling she'll try to lie, despite that being a very bad idea, if he asks how she is and what's going on.

So there's a skinny 19-year-old angel of death curled up in a chair as far away from the fire as she can get. But she's in the room.

And her head is rather loud.

brandedfirst February 26 2008, 03:06:33 UTC

"Becky..."

Unfortunately for the angel of death, Brando has legs that work and her head is loud. To the point that he couldn't ignore it if he wanted to. And he doesn't want to.

He walks over to her, placing his hand on top of her head, gently.

worseforfears February 26 2008, 03:33:55 UTC

Becky grimaces a little when he touches her.

She'd been hoping maybe, perhaps... he wouldn't notice her. Or wouldn't come talk to her. Or... something. But of course, he would come over. He's just like that.

"Hey, Brando," she says softly, staring rather intently at her knees.

brandedfirst February 26 2008, 03:37:29 UTC

"Sorry. It's habit to notice." And take care of those he considers his own.

Brando removes his hand and watches her expression, carefully, as much as he can considering how intently she's staring at her knees.

"Talk to me, Blue-eyes."

worseforfears February 26 2008, 04:46:59 UTC

"Don't have anything I want to talk about," she mutters.

Well, it's not a lie. Okay, it's sort of a half truth, 'cause she sort of wants to talk about some things, but not really, so it only hurts for a second, and not too badly. She hardly reacts.

brandedfirst February 27 2008, 17:01:23 UTC

"But there are things you need to talk to me about."

It's difficult to hide something that you have on your mind from a First. If she hadn't been thinking about it initially, she may have gotten away with that, but...

worseforfears February 27 2008, 17:24:04 UTC

She closes her eyes for a moment. She really really doesn't want to tell him this, but...

"There's a kid. Down here. Name's Ricky." She hesitates. "I... I saw..."

How is she even supposed to say this?

brandedfirst February 27 2008, 17:30:00 UTC

She doesn't have to say it.

Brando's expression hardens, considerably, because everyone here whether or not he's had contact with them is his responsibility.

"His death."

worseforfears February 27 2008, 17:58:30 UTC

She nods, and curls tighter into herself.

Her heart's broken for this poor kid who had so much guilt and pain. And she feels, somehow, irrationally, like Brando blames her for this. Like he's mad at her.

She doesn't need to see his expression to know it's gone hard. She just assumes different reasons for it than are actually true.

brandedfirst February 27 2008, 18:07:34 UTC

Brando presses his hand against her back, kneeling in front of the chair.

"It's not your fault. We're... actually, very lucky that you saw it. It can be stopped. Changed now."

It would have been worse for someone to find him dead. There's hope now. At least there's that.

worseforfears February 27 2008, 18:16:22 UTC

Becky nods a bit.

"I talked to him, some. Tried... I'm trying to change his mind. But he's hurting so much..." she sounds a little desperate.

brandedfirst February 27 2008, 18:34:15 UTC

"Good. I'm sure it's better for him to talk about it." Brando, himself, is running through what he can do. What steps should be taken to prevent this from happening. 1 week is the most they had. "If you can't... get him to change his mind. Don't blame yourself. Humans. Everyone here is free to make their own decisions in the end. We can only influence them so far and it isn't your job to stop death. Only to be there, to help them through it in the end."

worseforfears February 28 2008, 03:44:58 UTC

"Yeah," Becky says bitterly. "My job's to sit there and fucking watch."

She really hates her job, has she mentioned that?

brandedfirst February 29 2008, 00:58:09 UTC

"No. Help them through it. I've seen many deaths in my.. time." Brando keeps a hand on her back, gentle, not moving, but thee. "People who die alone and people who die with the help of an angel of death. There's a difference. A huge, horrifying... difference. I know it doesn't make the job any easier, but... don't you refer to it as something so passive again. Got it?"

worseforfears February 29 2008, 03:55:32 UTC

"Yes, sir," Becky mumbles, feeling rather like she's just been chastised by... a father or a priest or someone in authority.

She knows the difference she makes. She really does, because she feels it. She feels how much pain and fear and god knows what else they would be put through if she weren't there, she sees how - usually - there's some comfort brought by a pretty girl with wings holding their hand, telling them everything's going to be all right, that it'll be over soon.

She looks much more like the conventional idea of an angel when she's in that moment, even though she doesn't realize it. That helps.

It still feels like she should be able to do more. To stop the deaths from happening. To bring vengeance on those who kill, those who push others to suicide.

If an angel could have a career switch, that would pretty much be her first pick.

brandedfirst February 29 2008, 04:06:46 UTC

Brando smiles a little at the 'sir'.

If only because it makes him feel even more like a father.

A father with far too many children and most of them are hurt and lost and in need of so much more than he could ever give them.

He keeps a hand on her back. "I'll talk to him. I won't let him know you said anything to me, but I will talk to him."

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