The One Who Answers When I Call [[Complete//Closed]]
Characters: Yazoo, Lucrecia, Vincent
Content: Yazoo visits Lucrecia and Vincent for supplies, advice, and moral support.
Location: Meteor Mansion on Spring Street
Time of day: midday, backdated to the day after Xigbar's party
Warnings: angst, blood
( Yazoo didn't want to leave his brother, but he hardly had a choice... )
Content: Yazoo visits Lucrecia and Vincent for supplies, advice, and moral support.
Location: Meteor Mansion on Spring Street
Time of day: midday, backdated to the day after Xigbar's party
Warnings: angst, blood
( Yazoo didn't want to leave his brother, but he hardly had a choice... )
And then Yazoo had asked if he could come get bandages from her. Of course she couldn't say no. That just wouldn't do. She was supposed to be his mother-figure and that meant she couldn't deny him anything he needed, especially when something like this tragedy was playing out. She had to be there for them, be strong, even if she was cracking somewhere under that calm exterior.
She'd found bandages, or something that would work well enough, in some kind of first aid kit it looked like. If the ones she'd found weren't enough, she'd wash the one she'd used to hold up her hair for so many years. It had really been so long since she had first used it that she could barely remember what it was like without it, but that was all right. If Yazoo needed it, she would gladly give it up to him.
Pausing by her rooms, her eyes landed on the scraps of cloth that were all that remained of what she had worn the day she had sealed herself away in the mako crystal. Something in her wasn't quite ready to give those up, so she bypassed that option in the quest for bandages and cloths.
Something shifted nearby as she moved into the entrance hall and Yazoo's voice rang through the room. She strode forward, nearly stopping still when she realized what he had called her. Mother... Had he really meant that? She'd have to ask him.. when they both could think straight.
She barely knew either of the two silver-haired men, but ever since their talk in the park, she had felt a kinship for them. It really was as if she had adopted them that day.
"Yazoo?" she called out, stepping forward through the shadows of the room just as Vincent came from another area. "I've got bandages."
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It was all too much. This world, what had happened to Loz, being without Kadaj again, Sephiroth's presence throbbing dully in the back of his mind, Marluxia, Naminè, this woman who was Mother and not Mother, Vincent... Yazoo shook his head, his mouth pulling tight in a pained grimace, and then he stumbled into a run towards Lucrecia, dropping to his hands and knees on the cold tile at her feet.
"Mother," he choked out, reaching up to curl his fingers into her sweatpants just below her knee -- he wanted so much to be reassured, to have something to hold onto, but couldn't find the courage to do more than cling to Lucrecia's clothes. "I didn't get there in time... why couldn't I get there in time? I could've stopped it..." Yazoo was almost crying now -- almost, because his tears had long since gone dry. He looked up at Lucrecia with desperate eyes, and even his eyelashes were gummed with his brother's dried blood. "I hate this stupid place," he sob-snarled, "I hate it and I want Real Mother to come and destroy it, but... but I can't hear her even a little bit here, and that must be my fault too, and... and Loz is..."
Shuddering, Yazoo lowered his head again, slowly relaxing his grip on Lucrecia's clothing. "I'll kill him," he whispered, fisting both hands on the tile and leaving bloody smudges. "I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him..."
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And his half-son at that.
The Ex-Turk simply shook his head, trying not to jostle it or the ice pack too much. "Worry about that later. How bad is he?"
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The scientist's first reaction when she had seen the figure moving forward had been to protect herself, protect her stomach, but when she realized he wasn't going to hurt her, hadn't intended on doing anything to her, she relaxed a little and uncurled to look downward at him. She really couldn't help it. Years of worry and fear still hadn't left her mind and she doubted they ever really would.
Looking down at Yazoo was hard. He looked terrible and it hurt, hurt to see him hurt, hurt to know that Loz was in worse shape than Yazoo. She wished she could have done something at the time for them, but she was well aware that fighting was not her strong point. She would have been killed in an instant.
Lucrecia's eyes flickered to Vincent in something of a "Don't leave," plea. Not that she thought he would, but the last time they had seen Yazoo together, he'd almost left her there. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she didn't want a repeat. Her sweatpants now bore crimson stains, but she ignored them. There were ways to get blood out of clothing and, somehow, she knew them all. She'd deal with that later. Now, she needed to deal with Yazoo.
"Yazoo..." she murmured, kneeling in front of him and gently reaching to rest her hands on his shoulders. "Sometimes... sometimes we're not allowed to be there right away. Sometimes... things happen, even if we didn't want them to. But... you have to.. carry on with what you do have, deal with what happened. We'll make sure Loz lives. I will help him too."
She knew well how it went as far as things happening that weren't expected. She'd had to deal with more than one person dying in front of her eyes. Yazoo didn't need that kind of pain and if she could help him, she would.
"You need to get clean first, though." Her voice was calm and gentle as she glanced up at Vincent, her eyes pleading with him to allow it.
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"S'not fair," he spat, still gazing at the floor. Lucrecia's words made sense, but he didn't want to believe them. If that was the way of the world, he could understand why Real Mother would want to make it all go away.
"Clean...?" he echoed, looking up as the words sank in. Yazoo blinked, then shook his head. "It's... not my blood." He turned to Vincent, finally realizing what the man had asked him, and sat up on his shins, legs folded under his body.
It went against Yazoo's instincts to tell others anything personal, and for a moment, he only stared at Vincent in silence, unwilling to speak. Could they be trusted? If he told these two what had happened to Loz...
But he had to trust Lucrecia. A Mother protected her children, right? She wouldn't use the information against them. And Vincent had been so angry when he'd found out... he really seemed to care, although Yazoo couldn't quite fathom why...
"It's bad," he said softly, looking down at his hands. "I stitched him up, but... but his arm... and..." Yazoo choked, pressing a bloody gloved hand to his mouth for a moment. The thought of what he'd seen when he'd cleaned away the blood on his brother's face made him want to vomit. "Dammit..." he hissed, voice muffled by his fingers, "that bastard took his eye..."
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But that didn't matter. People needed help, and help he'd give.
He swallowed hard at Yazoo's explaination, but said nothing in reply to it. ...damn that bastard. Damn him. "...there's a shower upstairs. Used to be for artifacts. I'll help you use it."
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Taking a deep breath, she offered both men near her a smile. Yazoo got a reassuring one and Vincent got a grateful one before she returned her attention to the silver head in front of her. The description of the injuries was also beyond what she had wanted to hear, but she stuffed the mental images away... well until he mentioned taking out Loz's eye. A wave of nausea swept over her and she barely managed to hold onto it.
Breathing through her nose for a little before she dared move, she moved to get up, offering Yazoo a hand to get up with her. "I know.. it isn't yours." It was Loz's blood. She'd been sure of that before he'd told her. "But you still.. should clean it off." It couldn't feel very good, could it?
"I'll finish getting things ready for Loz, all right?" It wasn't as if she wanted him to go away. No, she was flattered in a way that he would have come to her for reassurance in a time like this... She just didn't want to deal with the blood anymore. It was starting to remind her of her own brush with blood and death and she reaaallly didn't want to have a flashback while Yazoo was in need of her support. "Clean yourself up and then you can clean Loz and make him more comfortable when you bring the bandages back."
Logically, it made sense. It would just depend on whether or not Yazoo felt like cooperating.
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Yazoo looked at Vincent for a moment, silent, then accepted Lucrecia's hand -- almost shyly -- as he got to his feet. He was suddenly aware of how tired he was. Loz had been half-conscious for most of the walk back from the party, and had been able to support some of his own weight, but Yazoo's shoulders ached from trying to keep him on his feet, and his fingers were sore from sewing skin and muscle back together. His head throbbed dully.
"Thanks," he told Vincent, "but I don't want to play right now." Still, he did appreciate the attempt to cheer him up -- that tactic usually worked when Loz tried it. Now just wasn't the time.
It was only when Lucrecia spoke that he realized how much the blood was bothering her. Yazoo took a step back, mumbling an apology -- he knew what happened when Real Mother got angry, and he didn't want to upset Lucrecia either, even if she was only their Almost-Mother.
Noticing the supplies that Lucrecia had dropped, Yazoo tugged off his gloves, holding them between his teeth as he picked up the bandages and other items. He offered them back to Lucrecia -- they would only get dirty if he held onto them. Yazoo decided he ought to shower after all... but first, there was something he needed to ask.
"...You were a scientist at Shinra, right?" he asked, careful to pose the question in as nonthreatening a manner as possible, keeping his voice low. "If I wanted to keep someone conscious through a lot of pain, what drugs would I use?" Yazoo already knew a lot about torturing humans -- Kadaj had really seemed to enjoy prolonging the process, even after they had gotten all the information they could -- but this world didn't have much healing magic. Surely a Shinra scientist would know about drugs that could do the same thing...
[OOC: Yes, Yazoo misunderstood the "I'll help you use [the shower]" as an offer of sex. XD]
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He wasn't a licenced doctor, like Lucrecia was, but Turks were briefly trained in the same kind of knowledge, to use on missions. One good thing about his previous involvement with ShinRa.
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And then he moved away and her expression fell slightly as she worried that she had upset him. If he ever told her that he was nervous about making her upset, she probably would have been extremely shocked. Even in her most tormented state of mind, Lucrecia was not a violent person. Perhaps she was a little loud and tended to flail her arms and legs around, but that was about it. She would never hurt him, anyone for that matter.
A smile crossed her face again as Yazoo picked up the bandages she had dropped and handed them back to her. He really.. could be so sweet. The action touched her and she thanked him softly, taking the pile and wrapping it up in her arms so she could carry it easier.
His question caught her off-guard and she nodded, though was glad that Vincent answered. Sure she'd been a scientist, but she'd never been very good with medicines since it wasn't quite her field of study. With a little research and the right supplies, however, she could use her knowledge to recreate medicine, but it still wasn't her strongest suit.
"I might be able to make some, but it would take time." She glanced to Vincent. "If there aren't any around, let me know and.. I'll try."
It was also a very good thing that he hadn't specified what he was going to use them specifically for. Lucrecia assumed he was trying to help Loz out a little more and she didn't question it at all. Had she known... the result of her knowledge most likely would not have ended well.
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He only nodded a silent thanks to the both of them, adding, "I'm sure I can find something... it's a big city." He tried to smile a little for Lucrecia. "In a few days, maybe you can come and visit... after I clean up the apartment." Yazoo's smile faded at that thought. So much blood...
"Vincent." Yazoo turned to look at the dark-haired man, raising one hand a little and then letting his arm fall slack again. "The shower... could you show me where it is?" He nodded very slightly to indicate Lucrecia, silently communicating that he didn't want to upset her any more than he already had. Yazoo frowned. "I don't have any clean clothes... but I can wipe my leathers down with a wet cloth." He paused, and directed his next question at Lucrecia, hesitant. "Would that be enough?"
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It was strange, this whole situation. This whole world... on Gaia, he would've never imagined something like this ever happening. When people died, when they returned to the planet, it stayed that way. No sudden dissappearances and reappearances, no unknown force twisting a former enemy's mind for the better... none of it. He sensed a need to trust Yazoo, Loz, and anyone else.
Though, he still had to wonder... would it be worth it in the end? How did he know this place wouldn't just up and decide to bring them back like they were before?
And he still felt the need to, every morning, see if Lucrecia was still there. If it hadn't taken her from him again...
Vincent's head gave a dull pound and he winced, making his way over to the Remn-- er, his step-son's side, extending a free hand to help him up. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly thinking like this... it must've just been a remainder of the toxin. That was all.
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After all, it wasn't that she was used to blood from being a scientist. One could argue that she was after all the experiments, after Jenova... but really, when all was said and done, a simple thing such as blood only served to be a channel for her flashbacks. She hadn't had anything severe in a while and she really wanted to keep it that way. The last thing she needed was to upset Yazoo when he was vulnerable.
The scientist paused for a moment before shifting the load of bandages in her arms so she could reach out to gently squeeze Yazoo's lower arm. She hit a patch of blood on it, but she made no visible sign that she felt anything sticky other than wiping her hand on her pants when she let go. Turning to Vincent, she nodded.
"I'll wait here," she murmured, "after I've finished looking around for anything else that might help."
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Yazoo was surprised when Vincent reached out to him, but he didn't pull away. Now that he was calmer and the adrenaline rush was leaving him, he was becoming increasingly aware of how much the previous night's events had taken out of him. When he got back to the apartment, he would check Loz's bandages, change them if necessary... and then lie down on the floor beside the couch and sleep for a while.
The touch on his forearm brought Yazoo out of his thoughts abruptly. He blinked at Lucrecia, then looked down at her hand -- her fingers were smudged with half-dried blood. Tucking his gloves into the crook of one arm, Yazoo unzipped his jacket a bit to fish for the handkerchief he'd tucked inside it -- the one Lucrecia had used to wipe away his tears on the day they had first met. He offered it to her, then turned to follow Vincent.
"Thank you," he said softly, "for letting me come here." Yazoo looked down at his feet -- even his boots were covered with dried blood -- and added, almost inaudibly, "You... you're a good Mother."
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