-37
Who: Bela Talbot and Eliot Spencer
What: Them talking after Eliot comes back from the dead.
When: After THIS
Where: Room 903
Rating: PG-13
Bela had been trying not to count the days.
Counting the days until he came back was counterproductive and would only depress her so she tried to focus on something else. Anya had given her off from work -- trying to be considerate, she was sure -- but there was only so long that she could sit still and do nothing without finding her mind wandering. She wouldn't wallow. She refused to wallow. It was only two weeks. She could manage being on her own for two weeks. She had done it before for much longer, she could handle doing it again now.
She was finding that it was a lot harder to go backwards than forwards.
Right now, she was curled up in her room, cat in her lap and book in her hand and trying not to look over at the journal. She knew that if she did she would just wait obsessively to hear his voice over it and that wouldn't help her. She knew what day it was. She knew what was supposed to be happening. And she also knew that if it was necessary, he would find his way to her. All she had to do was wait. Never mind the fact that she was absolutely terrible at waiting.
He was relieved that she hadn't been in his room waiting for him to return. The state he was in, he knew she'd just worry. Or, wonder how come every time he came back he looked like he'd been worked over. Still, he knew he had to find her. He wanted to find Parker, tell her that Sophie'd come back, but - well, she was back and could tell Parker herself.
Taking a shower at least made him feel better, but he was still sore. Eliot knew that she'd be waiting, so rather than wait until some of the swelling near his eyebrow went down, he just headed to the elevator to head to her room. Knocking lightly on the door, he ran his free hand through his hair, waiting for her to answer.
Surprisingly, she actually managed to get rather engrossed in the book. Some things were better distractions than others apparently. Or maybe it just might have been the fact that there was a warm, purring animal in her lap and she didn't feel like getting up. Either way she barely looked up from the book before responding.
"It's open."
Turning the handle, he entered the room, being mindful of her pet, glancing around to notice that it wasn't even there. Eliot looked across the room, a moment of relief coming over him as he saw her. She was okay, and maybe he wasn't sure if he needed to worry about that, but the Joker hadn't exactly seemed trustworthy. Making his way across the room, he still hadn't even said anything, but when he got closer he smiled, "Hey."
She looked up with a start at the sound of his voice, before dropping the cat off her lap and pushing up to head closer to him. Her hands landed on his shoulders first, before sliding up to look over his face carefully as she looked over the bruises and swelling. "Must you always get in a fight right before you come back from the dead?"
Eliot couldn't help but smirk, leaning into her touch a bit, tilting to let her take as close a look as she needed. "It comes with the job, Bela," he replied with a touch of amusement. His hand brushed down her arm, giving her elbow a light squeeze, "You alright?"
"I'll live," she said softly, before swallowing as all the things she wanted to yell at him when she found out started to come bubbling up to the surface. "You weren't supposed to die."
Glancing away from her for a moment he took a breath, returning his eyes to hers, "I know, and trust me, if I had a choice I wouldn't have. I read in the journal, he took more than a few of us down." He'll put aside the thought that he wanted to go after the son of a bitch, mostly because he had a feeling he didn't know the whole story there yet. He would, however, bring it up with Nate.
Letting his hand stray from her arm, he brushed her hair aside, tucking it behind her ear lightly, "I'm sorry."
She leaned into his hand a bit, closing her eyes as she took a breath. "I know that, but -- you didn't have to go, either." She understood that he was going to protect people, but she was selfish enough to be upset with him for putting himself in that situation. It had been building for two weeks, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop herself now. "And then you were just ... gone. I didn't know where you were, what had happened ... "
He couldn't help but look guilty, knowing that he'd gone there alone, not even coming up with any plan of action. It had been foolish, and part of him knew beyond that it had been reckless. The castle, it made things seem so easy, and he'd taken too much of a chance. His thumb brushed against her cheek, leaning in to let his forehead rest to hers, "I know, and I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to leave you."
She just kept her eyes closed. "I know. I know you didn't, I just ... " She shook her head. " ... I hate this place sometimes." It always seemed to want to reinforce the fact that nothing was supposed to last. She supposed she should be grateful that he didn't go home completely and still came back remembering her, but she barely wanted to acknowledge that thought before it managed to slip it's way in. She just wanted to forget about it for the time being and pretend like the last two weeks had never happened. She had sleepwalked through enough of it at least.
Nodding against her forehead, he kept his voice low, "I know." His hands moved to cradle the back of her head, lifting to press a kiss to her forehead, his mouth resting there for a moment, shutting his eyes, "I know." Taking a breath, he shifted his hands, letting them rest to her neck lightly, dropping down a bit to meet her eyes, smiling softly at her, "I'm here now, and I'll stay away from dart shooting bad guys." Closing the slight distance between them, he brushed a kiss against her lips, just a reminder for himself, and perhaps for her, of all that he did have here, pushing away the confusion of those two weeks before he went home.
"I appreciate it," she murmured, smiling slightly into the kiss as she moved closer to him. She wanted to feel something warm and solid to lean against, and now that he was actually here for her to do it, she was going to take advantage while she had it. She missed this. She missed this far more than she would care to admit. It would involve admitting that she was relying on someone and that was a scary thought.
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her in close, parting from the kiss to rest his chin atop her head, just holding her for a moment. Taking a breath, he just let himself relax, all the chaos of everything on the ship, the thought that they had been moments away from getting out of there -- and now he was here again. He needed this. To know that even though there was something going on back home, that he had something going on here as well. It was hard to reconcile everything, but having this, feeling her breathing against him, it helped. Shifting slightly, he dropped a kiss atop her head, rubbing her back lightly. "I went home and Sophie's back here too."
"Mmmm," she hummed softly, just staying close. "Are you alright?" Because that was the question she had never asked, and it did feel like it should be asked at least once.
Eliot continued to rub his hand against her back, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Trouble on a boat. You know how those things go."
She chuckled softly. "I've been there once or twice." Well, more like trouble with a boat, but that was neither here nor there.
Nodding, he dropped another kiss atop her head, smirking a bit, "Once or twice?" Taking another deep breath, he shook his head, pulling back from her and moving to sit on the edge of her bed, tugging her onto his lap. There was a slight wince, but that was mostly from the bruise to his rib, having a knee ram into it isn't always pleasant. His hand swept her hair off her shoulder, before pulling her in closer, "You gonna tell me what I missed in two weeks?"
"Ghost ships," she explained without really explaining at all. She paused as she let herself get pulled in, adjusting the way she settled against him with the wince, not wanting to cause him any excess pain. She paused for a moment to consider what he missed. "Valentine's Day," she began, not in an upset way, more just considering. "The castle got the bright idea to give everyone magic arrows for the day."
Smirking, he glanced at her, "Should I be relieved that you prefer fencing?"
She smirked back, considering for a moment if she should actually tell him, but she figured honestly was probably the best policy. "You should. Didn't save me from being shot though."
"So, what exactly do these magical arrows do - when you're shot by them?" Eliot was curious, but it was more of an amusement factor than anything else.
"Varying degrees of affection," she said with a bit of a shrug. "I never actually figured out what the correlation was, but it could be anything from just wanting to spend a lot of time with that person, to throwing yourself at them. Rather embarrassingly for that matter." She still hadn't apologized to the poor soul who managed to hit her with his arrow, but then again, she never bothered to get his name, either.
Eliot tried not to laugh, but it was pretty amusing. His hand reaching up to run through his hair, before leaning in toward her, brushing a kiss to her. Smirking, he pulled back, "Lucky guy."
"I'm sure he doesn't see it that way," she sighed. "Though he was rather gentlemanly about the whole thing. I appreciated that."
Smirking, Eliot shrugged, "Beautiful girl falls for me, I'd be thankful - regardless of the reasons." Moving a bit further onto the bed, he pressed his back to the headboard, tugging her to rest along side him, his hand lightly brushing against her back, as he crossed his feet, stretching out. "Eventually, I'll have to go find Nate, Parker and Hardison. Until then, though, this is good. I've missed this."
She shifted to settle in next to him, draping an arm across his waist. "I did too." Her eyes closed as she relaxed, just taking in the familiar setting. She felt his chest rise and fall with each breath, and it was almost like the past two weeks had never happened. Almost.
Resting his head against hers, he probably could've just taken a nap, considering everything that had gone on before the return here to the castle. He still knew that there was something eating at him, that darkness that came from being dead here in the castle. It felt, different than the last time, more raw and exposed. It actually didn't seem to fit with the last time at all, but he wasn't sure what to make of that. Rubbing his hand against her arm, as she rested beside him, he pushed the thoughts away. "We should go out to dinner tonight. After I've talked with everyone."
She considered for a moment before nodding. "I'd like that. Somewhere in town, maybe?"
Nodding against her, he remembered he'd told Sophie about dinner, but he was sure they'd be fine on their own. It had been a long time since he'd been around Bela, being here now just reminded him that it'd take a bit to get used to having someone to be there for him like she was. Everything was going to be an adjustment of some sort, it was just a good thing that he was good at adjusting to the unknown. "Yeah, somewhere quiet."
She was just getting used to having someone period. She had spent so much of her life alone, that someone having that much of an impact threw her for a pretty heavy loop, but it wasn't unwelcomed. In fact, it was probably the warmest feeling she's had in a long time. "I think I know a place that fits the bill."
"Sounds good." Even as he lay there, with Bela at his side, he didn't exactly feel like moving, not just yet at least. Even if she fell asleep, he'd be fine with that. Eliot just wanted a bit more time, before heading back to the tower.
She might just. She hadn't been sleeping all that well, and being this comfortable and relaxed was lulling her back into that place where she could. Her eyes slowly closed, pushing her body in closer to his and just getting as comfortable as possible, as her body slowly started to slip off into sleep with a soft sigh.
Eliot felt her body shift, relaxing into him. His hand soothed at her back, lightly rubbing against her shirt, just helping her drift off. If his mind wasn't still trying to process everything, he might've drifted off too. Instead he just held her, watching her cat at the foot of the bed sniff at his feet, assuming that it'd be a short while before her Vulpix joined in on the inspection. He'd shift her off of him at some point, heading to the tower to see how things were going with Sophie's return. Then return that night to take her to dinner in the city.
What: Them talking after Eliot comes back from the dead.
When: After THIS
Where: Room 903
Rating: PG-13
Bela had been trying not to count the days.
Counting the days until he came back was counterproductive and would only depress her so she tried to focus on something else. Anya had given her off from work -- trying to be considerate, she was sure -- but there was only so long that she could sit still and do nothing without finding her mind wandering. She wouldn't wallow. She refused to wallow. It was only two weeks. She could manage being on her own for two weeks. She had done it before for much longer, she could handle doing it again now.
She was finding that it was a lot harder to go backwards than forwards.
Right now, she was curled up in her room, cat in her lap and book in her hand and trying not to look over at the journal. She knew that if she did she would just wait obsessively to hear his voice over it and that wouldn't help her. She knew what day it was. She knew what was supposed to be happening. And she also knew that if it was necessary, he would find his way to her. All she had to do was wait. Never mind the fact that she was absolutely terrible at waiting.
He was relieved that she hadn't been in his room waiting for him to return. The state he was in, he knew she'd just worry. Or, wonder how come every time he came back he looked like he'd been worked over. Still, he knew he had to find her. He wanted to find Parker, tell her that Sophie'd come back, but - well, she was back and could tell Parker herself.
Taking a shower at least made him feel better, but he was still sore. Eliot knew that she'd be waiting, so rather than wait until some of the swelling near his eyebrow went down, he just headed to the elevator to head to her room. Knocking lightly on the door, he ran his free hand through his hair, waiting for her to answer.
Surprisingly, she actually managed to get rather engrossed in the book. Some things were better distractions than others apparently. Or maybe it just might have been the fact that there was a warm, purring animal in her lap and she didn't feel like getting up. Either way she barely looked up from the book before responding.
"It's open."
Turning the handle, he entered the room, being mindful of her pet, glancing around to notice that it wasn't even there. Eliot looked across the room, a moment of relief coming over him as he saw her. She was okay, and maybe he wasn't sure if he needed to worry about that, but the Joker hadn't exactly seemed trustworthy. Making his way across the room, he still hadn't even said anything, but when he got closer he smiled, "Hey."
She looked up with a start at the sound of his voice, before dropping the cat off her lap and pushing up to head closer to him. Her hands landed on his shoulders first, before sliding up to look over his face carefully as she looked over the bruises and swelling. "Must you always get in a fight right before you come back from the dead?"
Eliot couldn't help but smirk, leaning into her touch a bit, tilting to let her take as close a look as she needed. "It comes with the job, Bela," he replied with a touch of amusement. His hand brushed down her arm, giving her elbow a light squeeze, "You alright?"
"I'll live," she said softly, before swallowing as all the things she wanted to yell at him when she found out started to come bubbling up to the surface. "You weren't supposed to die."
Glancing away from her for a moment he took a breath, returning his eyes to hers, "I know, and trust me, if I had a choice I wouldn't have. I read in the journal, he took more than a few of us down." He'll put aside the thought that he wanted to go after the son of a bitch, mostly because he had a feeling he didn't know the whole story there yet. He would, however, bring it up with Nate.
Letting his hand stray from her arm, he brushed her hair aside, tucking it behind her ear lightly, "I'm sorry."
She leaned into his hand a bit, closing her eyes as she took a breath. "I know that, but -- you didn't have to go, either." She understood that he was going to protect people, but she was selfish enough to be upset with him for putting himself in that situation. It had been building for two weeks, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop herself now. "And then you were just ... gone. I didn't know where you were, what had happened ... "
He couldn't help but look guilty, knowing that he'd gone there alone, not even coming up with any plan of action. It had been foolish, and part of him knew beyond that it had been reckless. The castle, it made things seem so easy, and he'd taken too much of a chance. His thumb brushed against her cheek, leaning in to let his forehead rest to hers, "I know, and I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to leave you."
She just kept her eyes closed. "I know. I know you didn't, I just ... " She shook her head. " ... I hate this place sometimes." It always seemed to want to reinforce the fact that nothing was supposed to last. She supposed she should be grateful that he didn't go home completely and still came back remembering her, but she barely wanted to acknowledge that thought before it managed to slip it's way in. She just wanted to forget about it for the time being and pretend like the last two weeks had never happened. She had sleepwalked through enough of it at least.
Nodding against her forehead, he kept his voice low, "I know." His hands moved to cradle the back of her head, lifting to press a kiss to her forehead, his mouth resting there for a moment, shutting his eyes, "I know." Taking a breath, he shifted his hands, letting them rest to her neck lightly, dropping down a bit to meet her eyes, smiling softly at her, "I'm here now, and I'll stay away from dart shooting bad guys." Closing the slight distance between them, he brushed a kiss against her lips, just a reminder for himself, and perhaps for her, of all that he did have here, pushing away the confusion of those two weeks before he went home.
"I appreciate it," she murmured, smiling slightly into the kiss as she moved closer to him. She wanted to feel something warm and solid to lean against, and now that he was actually here for her to do it, she was going to take advantage while she had it. She missed this. She missed this far more than she would care to admit. It would involve admitting that she was relying on someone and that was a scary thought.
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her in close, parting from the kiss to rest his chin atop her head, just holding her for a moment. Taking a breath, he just let himself relax, all the chaos of everything on the ship, the thought that they had been moments away from getting out of there -- and now he was here again. He needed this. To know that even though there was something going on back home, that he had something going on here as well. It was hard to reconcile everything, but having this, feeling her breathing against him, it helped. Shifting slightly, he dropped a kiss atop her head, rubbing her back lightly. "I went home and Sophie's back here too."
"Mmmm," she hummed softly, just staying close. "Are you alright?" Because that was the question she had never asked, and it did feel like it should be asked at least once.
Eliot continued to rub his hand against her back, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Trouble on a boat. You know how those things go."
She chuckled softly. "I've been there once or twice." Well, more like trouble with a boat, but that was neither here nor there.
Nodding, he dropped another kiss atop her head, smirking a bit, "Once or twice?" Taking another deep breath, he shook his head, pulling back from her and moving to sit on the edge of her bed, tugging her onto his lap. There was a slight wince, but that was mostly from the bruise to his rib, having a knee ram into it isn't always pleasant. His hand swept her hair off her shoulder, before pulling her in closer, "You gonna tell me what I missed in two weeks?"
"Ghost ships," she explained without really explaining at all. She paused as she let herself get pulled in, adjusting the way she settled against him with the wince, not wanting to cause him any excess pain. She paused for a moment to consider what he missed. "Valentine's Day," she began, not in an upset way, more just considering. "The castle got the bright idea to give everyone magic arrows for the day."
Smirking, he glanced at her, "Should I be relieved that you prefer fencing?"
She smirked back, considering for a moment if she should actually tell him, but she figured honestly was probably the best policy. "You should. Didn't save me from being shot though."
"So, what exactly do these magical arrows do - when you're shot by them?" Eliot was curious, but it was more of an amusement factor than anything else.
"Varying degrees of affection," she said with a bit of a shrug. "I never actually figured out what the correlation was, but it could be anything from just wanting to spend a lot of time with that person, to throwing yourself at them. Rather embarrassingly for that matter." She still hadn't apologized to the poor soul who managed to hit her with his arrow, but then again, she never bothered to get his name, either.
Eliot tried not to laugh, but it was pretty amusing. His hand reaching up to run through his hair, before leaning in toward her, brushing a kiss to her. Smirking, he pulled back, "Lucky guy."
"I'm sure he doesn't see it that way," she sighed. "Though he was rather gentlemanly about the whole thing. I appreciated that."
Smirking, Eliot shrugged, "Beautiful girl falls for me, I'd be thankful - regardless of the reasons." Moving a bit further onto the bed, he pressed his back to the headboard, tugging her to rest along side him, his hand lightly brushing against her back, as he crossed his feet, stretching out. "Eventually, I'll have to go find Nate, Parker and Hardison. Until then, though, this is good. I've missed this."
She shifted to settle in next to him, draping an arm across his waist. "I did too." Her eyes closed as she relaxed, just taking in the familiar setting. She felt his chest rise and fall with each breath, and it was almost like the past two weeks had never happened. Almost.
Resting his head against hers, he probably could've just taken a nap, considering everything that had gone on before the return here to the castle. He still knew that there was something eating at him, that darkness that came from being dead here in the castle. It felt, different than the last time, more raw and exposed. It actually didn't seem to fit with the last time at all, but he wasn't sure what to make of that. Rubbing his hand against her arm, as she rested beside him, he pushed the thoughts away. "We should go out to dinner tonight. After I've talked with everyone."
She considered for a moment before nodding. "I'd like that. Somewhere in town, maybe?"
Nodding against her, he remembered he'd told Sophie about dinner, but he was sure they'd be fine on their own. It had been a long time since he'd been around Bela, being here now just reminded him that it'd take a bit to get used to having someone to be there for him like she was. Everything was going to be an adjustment of some sort, it was just a good thing that he was good at adjusting to the unknown. "Yeah, somewhere quiet."
She was just getting used to having someone period. She had spent so much of her life alone, that someone having that much of an impact threw her for a pretty heavy loop, but it wasn't unwelcomed. In fact, it was probably the warmest feeling she's had in a long time. "I think I know a place that fits the bill."
"Sounds good." Even as he lay there, with Bela at his side, he didn't exactly feel like moving, not just yet at least. Even if she fell asleep, he'd be fine with that. Eliot just wanted a bit more time, before heading back to the tower.
She might just. She hadn't been sleeping all that well, and being this comfortable and relaxed was lulling her back into that place where she could. Her eyes slowly closed, pushing her body in closer to his and just getting as comfortable as possible, as her body slowly started to slip off into sleep with a soft sigh.
Eliot felt her body shift, relaxing into him. His hand soothed at her back, lightly rubbing against her shirt, just helping her drift off. If his mind wasn't still trying to process everything, he might've drifted off too. Instead he just held her, watching her cat at the foot of the bed sniff at his feet, assuming that it'd be a short while before her Vulpix joined in on the inspection. He'd shift her off of him at some point, heading to the tower to see how things were going with Sophie's return. Then return that night to take her to dinner in the city.