and the stream runs in circles from the chasm to the core

[lumenrelegandus]

Who: MULTIPLE THREADS! Expected: there are some plans. Unexpected: how would I know?
When: Right after this-with flexibility. All sparked by this after this.
Where: The Clinic
Format: [hates choosing] Whatever I start with, do your own thing!
What: Tonks visitations. Lupin's return. Shirley in da house. Trepkos the Grouch. AND MORE.
Warnings: Ow ow

Comments

closed...ish...

[thenobledie]

[so now that doors being ripped off - or the threat of more being ripped off because the fact lupin took off the door to dora's room doesn't slip her notice, sir -, shirley is back to being boring. ...okay, that was like a blip in her schedule, really.

and because it's slow and annalee only visited for the morning, she is reading. it's one of lupin's books, and the chair is something of a habit; she sits in it whenever she reads while at the clinic. she might as well claim it as her chair.

not that she would. the pixie snoozing on her shoulder and using her hair as a blanket totally would, though.]

ish forever!

[lumenrelegandus]

[He did fix it... hopes that counts for something. Also knows and agrees why it may not.

He's not silent as he lowers himself into the seat opposite her, but doesn't try to claim her focus from the book until she grants it to him.]

[thenobledie]

[it does! maybe. there is still a principle to the matter. which is hilarious because how often does she use doors if she can help it? (that answer is never.) not that it's really about the door, anyway...

it's only a few moments, and she is shutting the book. no bookmark, she always remembers her place. shirley tilts her head, as she looks at him. you first!]

[lumenrelegandus]

[it seems the nature of things that whenever they find a moment of lull in which to talk, by necessity at least one of them will always look utterly exhausted. His turn for the moment.]

Thank you for being here when I wasn't.

I never meant to leave.

[thenobledie]

[a nod and she leans in her chair to place the book on a nearby table. the shift causes the pixie unbalance, and he wakes to falling off her shoulder and instinctively taking to flight. that is a v annoyed pixie face that shirley pays no mind to.]

It is the nature of this city.

[lumenrelegandus]

[his reflexive smile at the harmless ludicrousness thy name is pixie proves the breaking straw. Smile fading, says thickly,]

It isn't mine.

[then he closes his eyes. Not with anyone else; he's kept it together in front of Miranda, River, Io, and Tonks. In front of Shirley he braces his elbows on his knees, puts his head in his hands, and takes a moment to breathe. Even if quietly and calmly, only with Shirley right now can he permit self-collapse.]

[thenobledie]

[as she leans back:]

Learn to compromise, then.

[which, from her, means to stop beating himself up over it. few people would have the power to fight or control this particular aspect of the mist, and there just isn't a point in being upset when you don't have it.]

[lumenrelegandus]

[a moment without response, though they can both know that he heard her, and perhaps-probably, it works this way between them-understood.

Says at last, a bit muffled, without raising his head,]

What do I need to know?

[thenobledie]

She was released four days ago. Dende and I healed what we could, but it was only yesterday she began any progress.

[let's just skip right past the fact she was prepared to have tonks killed... meanwhile, the pixie is returning to her shoulder to attempt sleep, if really grumpily. so many tiny >:c faces as he gets comfortable and tugs on shirley's hair. the only indication she notices is placing her hand on his little legs as a "stop that."]

[lumenrelegandus]

[raises his head quickly from his clasped hands]

Released?

[the possibilities that flood at that word bury, for just a moment, any feelings about how yesterday had been when he'd come back]

[thenobledie]

[lowering her hand.]

Escaped, perhaps. I did not ask the specifics of her freedom.

[but shirley would expect bellatrix to come out on top between her and her own niece, and she certainly thinks it was a matter of a game for dora to have been free when she was.]

[lumenrelegandus]

[his thoughts exactly.

He pushes up from the chair and starts pacing.]

I need to… run some tests… see if she's… If she'd let me. And there are some things I can't…

[nope, not right now. Sitting down at all had been a mistake, standing so quickly compounded, and his legs wobble a bit, forcing him to reclaim the chair.

He sits quietly a moment, then raises his eyes, heavy-lidded, to Shirley]

After I know, know, that Tonks is all right, I'm going to go after Lestrange.

[asks not so much Shirley as her talents]
t
Is there a reason not to.

[thenobledie]

[unfortunately, shirley is defined by her "talents." they are her as much as she is them. her frown is subtle, but the look in her eyes changes, too.]

And what will you do?

[she is fairly certain the answer is "something embarrassingly dumb."]

[lumenrelegandus]

[the answer is plain on his face but he doesn't say it yet]

I'm really asking. Is there a reason not to?

[thenobledie]

Of course.

[her answer is not because of her abilities, though. as much as she understands, she disapproves.]

[lumenrelegandus]

Tell me.

[remind me why I disapprove too. Convince me which is my better instinct]