OOM-but-not, Milliways Infirmary

[ever_noteful]

[ After this.Kim's hair is pretty unmistakable. Meg can, therefore, spot her sister from the doorway, and is about to go over to her table, when Kim gets up and heads for the infirmary

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[bannion_sight]

She jumps, and whirls around. Kim's clutching her copy of the Canadian Medical Association Journal so tightly to her that her fingers are white from their pressure against the pages.

It's been a very long time, if ever, since Meg will have seen her look quite so lost.

"Meg."

A beat, and she strives for a reassuring smile; it's a poor effort that's over almost before it starts, as clear gray eyes well with tears.

"I..."

[ever_noteful]

She looks woefully lost. She looks woeful in general, but Meg has seen her sad before. Lost is almost utterly foreign.

And in the abstract, that would be something Meg would find terrifying.

But in the here and now, well, that's not going to be even a little bit helpful for either of them.

A second, and then Meg crosses the space between them, takes the journal out of Kim's hands, and hugs her.

[bannion_sight]

Her arms go around Meg in turn with almost frantic tightness-- just for a moment, no more than that.

"How light is the grasp of which you are capable?" Kim can hear the Wolflord's cool tones in memory, and even as she curses him for being right again, she loosens her grip... but doesn't let go.

Her shoulders heave as she tries to keep from breaking down entirely.

"Oh, Meg, I'm so glad you're here--"

Kim gasps in a short, hitched series of breaths, biting back the flood of tears that threatens to ensue.

"-- so, so glad."

[ever_noteful]

In the abstract, this is starting to cross into really terrifying.

But then, Meg has never had much use for hypotheticals.

Meg nods. "Yeah, I'm here," she says, calm and steady.

"I'm here."

[bannion_sight]

She nods in response, but doesn't say anything else, not yet.

One breath, then another, and another. Slowly, Kim manages to stave off the complete and utter breakdown that Galadan's shocking news followed by her sister's appearance and supportive embrace had nearly triggered.

She leans back slightly, searching Meg's face, and tries a weak smile. This time, it sticks.

"No one's hurt," she says. "Just so you know."

[ever_noteful]

"That's good," Meg says.

She'll take it to mean physically, because Kim kind of doesn't exactly look un-hurt right now.

"Do you need water or anything?"

[bannion_sight]

"Probably a good idea, yeah."

She lets go, now, and moves as if to ease back a step.

"There's a sink over there."

[ever_noteful]

Meg looks over, and then says, "You sit. I'll get it."

It only takes a moment to find a plastic cup, and a box of tissues, and bring both over to Kim.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

[bannion_sight]

She's taken a seat on one of the visitors' chairs that are scattered about by the infirmary beds; there's a second one nearby, which may explain her choice.

At Meg's question, Kim chokes out something that resembles a laugh -- barely.

"I'm not sure I even know how to begin."

Not where, not if; how.

[ever_noteful]

"Well," Meg says calmly, taking the other chair, "in the words of a certain Wonderland king, 'begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end.'"

Then stop.

"Wherever that is, and however long it takes, because neither of us has anywhere else we have to be right now."

[bannion_sight]

Kim nods again.

After a minute, she takes one of the tissues and begins to draw it through her fingers, twisting and pleating it over and over again, looking down at it as she does.

"You know a lot of it already. The things that'll be important to understand first, I mean." She glances up. "Who Galadan is. What it means when I say someone is one of the andain-- like Darien was. Right?"

[ever_noteful]

"One parent is human, and the other . . . isn't," Meg says. "And, yes, I know who Galadan is.

"I've met him. Here."

If that's going to be relevant in anyway, better to tell Kim now.

[bannion_sight]

She nods agreement, then blinks and stares at Meg in shock.

"... oh."

She laughs again, short and wry.

"You know, somehow that doesn't surprise me. Given who he is."

[ever_noteful]

"Only twice, and not particularly recently."

For whatever that's worth.

[bannion_sight]

Kim takes that in, and nods yet again.

"He was here tonight. With news."

[ever_noteful]

"All right," Meg says.

"What news?"