[for Florence]

[wishesandsmoke]

The more bored Eden became, the further out she wandered, sometimes flying out past Summerfell in her little hovercar, sometimes striking out on foot for farther parts of the island. She never crossed into the dinosaur section -- boredom and recklessness were not one and the same, at least not in full, and she'd too much experience with death to

Comments

[doesnt_speak]

Through she's been on the island more than ten days now, Florence isn't quite what she's willing to call settled, despite feeling comfortable enough in her new surroundings. There are things she isn't letting herself think about yet, how she works in this world, how it's different from the Realm, but those answers will come in time. Florence trusts this.

She's trekking carefully through the jungle when she hears the shriek and there's no time to think about her reaction. The gun comes up and she's moving over rocks and fallen trees, racing toward the sound. Within seconds she's reached the source of the noise and she sees a girl lying at the bottom of a slope, no sight of an assailant. It's an injury, it isn't an attack, she can feel this and so she clicks the safety back onto her gun and lets it dangle from her shoulder strap again, then makes her way carefully down the slope to the girl at the bottom.

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden tensed, hearing someone approach. It was just her luck that this would happen, and rather than being relieved that someone else was out there, she found herself horrified. She could defend herself as needed any other time, but with her ankle out of commission, it was a lost cause. This woman didn't look at all familiar. That didn't mean she wasn't dangerous - the gun she carried was proof enough of that - but at least she probably wasn't someone who already held a grudge against Eden.

"I think I broke my ankle," she said, looking over at the woman, eyes wide and uncertain. She'd known this part of the island was less populated, dammit, and she ought to have come in the hovercar, but no, she'd gone and walked out on her own into the middle of nowhere. "Can you help me stand?"

[doesnt_speak]

Florence gives one short nod, although she isn't going to help the girl stand. Not yet, anyway. When Florence is done, she won't need the help. It isn't something she can explain, though, and so she simply drops to a crouch beside her and begins to careful work of stripping off the girl's shoe, needing to see the damage before she can be of any help.

It's probably considered rude to do all this without so much as a word, but Florence doesn't have time to dig out her paper and pencil. She doesn't even know where she's put the paper with her name on it, so introductions are going to have to wait. Her gaze flickers up briefly, meeting the girl's eyes and she tries to look reassuring as her fingers move over her ankle, feeling for any breaks or fractures.

[wishesandsmoke]

"What -" Eden leaned her weight back on the scraped palms of her hands, watching the woman closely. Though she didn't speak, she seemed like she was trying to help, and Eden was capable of doing little to stop her now if she meant to hurt her in any way. After a couple moments, she began to relax, letting out a long, slow breath. She didn't mind silence. It was strange, but more and more, worry gave way to relief. She could have been stranded out here alone with no help, and she was lucky not to have been.

In the next moment, her opinion of her luck changed again as the woman touched a sore point. Eden let out a cry, closing her eyes tight. "I didn't see the hill," she said. "I just slipped, and... is it broken?"

[doesnt_speak]

It isn't broken and so Florence shakes her head just once, figuring it's likely just a bad sprain. This is nothing more than routine for her, it's simple and shouldn't take longer than a few seconds. It's such a minor injury that Florence knows she'll feel very little, maybe a bit out of breath when she stands again, but nothing more.

Pulling back, she spreads both her hands over the young woman's ankle, her palms both facing down and she doesn't quite touch the skin, simply lets her hands hover there. It should take only moments and when Florence feels nothing, she frowns down at her hands, wondering why this is more difficult than it should be.

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden couldn't tell what the woman was trying to do, but there was something in her expression to suggest that, whatever it was, it hadn't worked. She'd seen things in her time, things back home, that made her wonder now, but only for a moment. No one here had powers of any sort. Still, it was like she'd expected something to come of doing that. Possibly she was just deep in thought of how best to handle the injury. Eden wasn't sure she should interrupt, so instead she sat very still.

[doesnt_speak]

Concentrating, her hands perfectly steady, Florence tries again, feeling for the warmth she knows she should feel near the injury, waiting for the flow between them, the brief loss of strength that tells her it's working.

It doesn't come.

Her frown deepens and she lets out a frustrated sigh, then looks up to meet the young woman's gaze once more, looking confused and lost, possibly for the first time in years. This isn't working. That's what she's trying to say, although she has no idea how easy it is to read her now. She's worried and she feels emotion bubbling up inside of her.

[wishesandsmoke]

"It's okay." It still hurt and Eden wasn't looking forward to standing up, because chances were she'd wind up putting weight on it even if she didn't mean to, but she was less shaken now. "They can bandage it in the clinic. What was that? The hands, was that - You were trying to fix it?"

To anyone who didn't have the sort of background she did, she figured that kind of thing sounded crazy. She'd spent a lot of time around others, though, and sometimes she missed the company of people who understood. There'd never been any like her, but she'd seen lots of powers come through. If Claire could heal herself, why couldn't this woman have healed other people back where she came from? Eden was in no place to doubt that possibility.

[doesnt_speak]

At first, Florence doesn't answer, the realization almost overwhelming as it rushes over her. She doesn't want to believe it, but the truth is pounding inside of her and she can feel it through every inch of her body. I can't do it anymore. I can't heal. Can't heal, can't speak, her gift has been taken away from her and she hasn't been given a voice.

After a moment, she nods, answering the young woman, then fishes the piece of paper out of her rucksack with her name on it. Quickly, with her stub of a pencil, she adds, I'll help you back to the Compound. under the scrawl of her name.

There isn't anything else she can do now. And Mike didn't even tell her. He let her find out like this.

[wishesandsmoke]

"Florence," Eden read, turning a small smile toward her. "Thank you. I'm Eden." Falling down a hill and injuring herself had put a dent in her manners, but now there didn't seem to be much she could do but grit her teeth and bear the pain. Whatever Florence had been or done before, she wasn't that anymore, and though Eden couldn't trust herself to read the woman right, she could guess it wasn't an easy loss. Even her own loss had been met with a sort of relieved sadness. "No one here can do anything like that anymore. It's all gone now. You'd think a place as full up with magic or whatever it is here'd let us keep doing what we do, but it's all gone."

That was probably for the best, she thought, remembering Sylar's presence on the island, safer, but that didn't make it easy.

[doesnt_speak]

With a short, sharp nod, Florence returns the paper to her rucksack and begins to make sure her gun is secure so that she can help Eden return to the Compound. Now isn't the time to deal with her loss, not when she has a responsibility. Mike should have told her.

There's no sense in dwelling now and even if she can't heal Eden, she can still help her. Getting to her feet again, Florence hooks her hands carefully under Eden's arms and then meets the gaze of the younger woman, questioning her. Asking if she can stand with Florence's help.

[wishesandsmoke]

It took more effort than Eden would have cared to admit to haul herself to her feet, and to keep herself there once she'd made it. Putting weight, any at all, on her injured leg was a bad plan, she quickly learned. She took in a deep breath with a hiss, teeth clenched. Florence didn't speak, but Eden was pretty sure she understood everything said all the same. "I can't put weight on it," she said, shaking her head. "But the other one's fine. I can... hop. Sort of."

This was going to make the next few weeks really annoying.

[doesnt_speak]

Briefly, Florence considers the situation, then wraps one arm carefully around Eden's back. With a warning look, she sweeps her other arm under Eden's legs, lifting her easily. She's a small woman and Florence is strong enough to carry her over long distances. She's carried much heavier burdens before.

Nodding, as if to tell herself it's working and to let Eden know everything will be fine, she sets off into the jungle, making sure to pick a safe, easy path.

[wishesandsmoke]

Even with the look of warning, Eden wasn't exactly expecting to be carried, and her eyes widened in something like alarm. She wasn't about to fight it, though, either, not and risk being dropped. "You really don't have to," she protested, a little embarrassed. God, it was like she was a kid or something. She knew that hobbling all the way back to the Compound, though, would take forever. Biting her lip, she left it at that.

[doesnt_speak]

Tipping her head slightly and arching an brow, Florence gives Even a look, asking what else she thinks she's going to do in a situation like this. Besides, it's not half as bad as having to carry Mike, which she's done before. He's much heavier and he usually puts up much more of a fuss, resulting in him being carried over her shoulder.

The slope is going to be the most difficult part, but Florence manages to climb to the top without incident, then sets off toward the Compound at a relatively brisk pace. She's never experienced this before, helping someone who doesn't understand why she's so quiet and she finds herself wishing she could speak for just a moment. Just to explain.

[wishesandsmoke]

Though Eden would have liked to ask, it was evident that no answer was coming, not without, at least, pen and paper, and neither were possible when Florence was carrying her. It made her frustrated, but then, she was the one who'd gone and banged herself up, so if the punishment for that - beyond the swollen and painful ankle, which she really thought ought to count all on its own - was to wind up feeling like a useless child, well, it was still probably better than trying to walk back on her own. In the meanwhile, she tried to look on the bright side. Florence didn't seem to be having any real trouble, and it was sort of an ego boost to realize she was lighter than she'd expected herself to be.