A Heart to Heart talk... (Active/Closed)
Characters: Holly J and Harry - CLOSED
Time: Holly J's break at Keepsie's, a point where its really slow.
Location: Keepsie's
Content: The pair of them really need to talk.
Format: Prose.
( ...about an encounter of Souls. )
Time: Holly J's break at Keepsie's, a point where its really slow.
Location: Keepsie's
Content: The pair of them really need to talk.
Format: Prose.
( ...about an encounter of Souls. )
"Hey, that doll came highly recommended by everyone I consulted," he replied, his tone one of a just man falsely accused. "I put a lot of thought into everyone's gifts." That said, he had actually gotten her something she would like, which he exchanged when she passed him his gift. It wasn't much, just a gift card to a popular clothing store, but he had figured she would like that a lot more than him actually trying to shop for her. There were natural disasters that had a better chance of turning out alright than Harry shopping for girl's clothing would.
Taking the card, Harry smiled genuinely at the neat handwriting, and the token inside. Really, she hadn't had to get him anything at all, the fact that she did meant a great deal to him. "Trust me, getting gifts at all is still kind of a novelty." Looking up he grinned. "Especially from popular cheerleaders."
Softening his smile, he nodded to Holly J and said, "Thank you."
Reply
Which explains why it was carefully hidden in her stuff so she knew where it was, and she didn't have to worry about roommates messing with it. Thank God she didn't have Tina anymore. Even if Fred was... different.
However, mentioning the fights brought them to the topic at hand, even if Holly J was still stalling. "On the ship..." She didn't know how to explain it, she had a few theories. She didn't wanna think about the ideas that she just lost her mind a little, powers or no. That something broke and that vision was all she could hold onto before she killed Harry. It was something but she didn't know what it was. So, she asked, "what happened?" it was a plain question, simple two words. Hopefully Harry would answer and not sidestep it.
Reply
Of course, then she asked the question she had been meaning to and Harry realized he could kick himself. Of course she didn't know what a soulgaze was, he hadn't exactly bothered to make it public knowledge and between all the fighting and his fear for Rikku and his heartbreak over Elaine he had completely forgotten to explain to Holly J what exactly it was that had passed between them. Then like a moron he'd run off for a month without cluing her in to the truth about one of the most intimate and possible traumatic invasions of privacy one human could possibly inflict on another. Really, he sometimes wished someone would finally put an end to his stupidity so he would stop hurting people.
"It's called a soulgaze," he explained, struggling with how to put into words what exactly a soulgaze was. "It's one manifestation of my powers that lets me look into another person when I meet their eyes, and let me see...well, them. Who they are, who they were, who they could become. Just everything that makes them who they are and defines them as a person, and they see the same in me. It's not a exact science, and the vision can be hard to understand, but it can tell you a great deal about who a person is."
Sighing, he looked away and apologized, "Sorry, I should have explained this all to you a long time ago. I can't believe I was so stupid."
Reply
Everyone kept things back, everyone hid things, Holly J tried not to lie. But lying and hiding were hardly one and the same, they went hand in hand, but as often as not they could be as different as the sun and the moon. She could understand it, it was like why Declan hid his powers, it was scary. To control a heart or a mind, to see into a person and know them, they were scary things. Someone just... knowing, about Harry's ability probably scared him in some way too, and his power could do that to other people.
This made Harry one of a handful of people that had seen her. One of those things Spinner told her she needed to put herself out there for, to be known, and not just seen. He understood her in ways nobody at home did, Harry understood her in ways nobody here knew. She knew with Spinner that wasn't the basis of love, that it didn't work like that. However, it did make Eli right, about the whole family thing. Which she hated, for the record, that he called that right.
She just sat there processing exactly what he meant. So what she saw, was Harry. Who he was, why he was, it felt weird to know someone like that. The faces were important to him, what she felt, that strength she clung to. This asshole saved her twice on that boat, another thought she would hate right now. She didn't look at him while she thought, and didn't eat either. Even if, for once, she was actually hungry. Finally, she added to the conversation again after the long silence, "...what did you see?"
Reply
All of Harry's abilities scared him on some level, especially since he had already seen the horrible damage they could do if not used properly. He could violate souls, take lives, and destroy people's ability to feel safe. More than anything in the world, Harry was scared of himself, and had he not have Ebenezer to teach him what his powers were for, that they were something meant to preserve life, he might have tried to cast them away forever and let them rot.
Letting her think, Harry sat in silence, his food untouched, and waited. Finally she seemed to think of what she wanted to say next, though the question itself was a loaded one. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked gently. "There are things about ourselves we're better off not seeing. It can make you second guess everything you are. That level of self reflection isn't something to do lightly."
Reply
Holly J looked at him, avoiding his eyes. She wasn't sure if this sorta thing could repeat itself. Although the defiance she called forth so often made her want to try. To stare him in the eye and show she wasn't so weak he needed to save her. Even if he had saved her a few times. She's only ever been 'herself' twice, the last half of her last year at Degrassi, and here at the school. At home she was 'going to be just like Heather,' Lakehurst she was the kid sister to Degrassi's Queen Bee, and when she started at Degrassi she was again graced with a title of her Sister's making.
The last half of the year, she was Holly J, 'Super Holly,' La Presidenta, all manner of title that was hers. It was nice, even if it wasn't honest. Her powers were still a secret and whispers of her Sister's movements filled the halls every now and again. Then here she wasn't known to the school, big fish out of a small pond. But none of these really told her who she was, and she wanted to know. "I'm not some little girl you need to protect," she protested, "I can handle some of it. If you feel you must hold back, but don't just keep me in the dark. You already did that all break."
Reply
"Some parts will," he told her softly. "The details will fade, the emotional edge will dull a little. There may be days when you don't think of it at all." He paused, then closing his eyes against the painful memories he was calling up he pushed on, "But you'll never really forget it. No matter how much you want to, it will always be a part of you in some way. The only thing you can do is to find out how to take what was done to you, and to turn it into a strength. Whether or not you can do that is something only you can decide." He paused and played with his food. "As for what you say inside me, I'm sorry but that's with you forever. You'll never forget even the smallest detail, the images will always be as fresh as when you first saw them. The same goes for me, I'll never forget what I saw in you."
Ouch, that was a low blow, not that Harry didn't think he deserved it, he knew he had seriously wronged her by taking off without explaining. It looked like it was time for him to start making amends, whether he wanted to or not. Settling back, he closed his eyes and called back what he had seen, the soulgaze instantly rushing to the front of his mind as if it had been lurking outside the door waiting to be let in. He described every scene as he remembered it, including every last detail of what he had seen, felt, and experienced. He fully intended to share everything, unless Holly J asked him to stop.
Reply
Honesty, Holly J liked that, at least in theory. This truth, however, was not a thing she really liked to here right now. That those things she did, could have done, would have done. She'd never lose them, she already knew it. However, hearing it really let it set in. Which just hurt, a lot, she liked the delusion, the idea it might all go away. No matter how stupid it was.
But that thought was pushed aside, her initial reaction after a few words she wanted him to stop. However, pride, and curiosity, two powerful bad reasons to do things, kept her from telling him to stop talking. She just listened as he described a very... creepy, really, metaphor for her life. However, when he brought up the shadowy figure, she finally said something, "Stop." It was loud and sharp, a single word to cut through what he was saying. "I've heard enough... thanks..." her words were a bit less pointed, a hint of sincerity as her mind worked to bury some thoughts.
Having someone see that side of her, it scared her as much as it relieved her. It was certainly easier, that he just knew, understood, at some level. But she never showed that side to people, never wanted to be seen as that person. Weak, alone, scared. A few people may have glimpsed, but she didn't like to show her own weakness. Why the hell did she shoot her mouth off at Eli, she didn't want his pity, or his apology. She supposed trying to get him to shut up was a reason, but not a very good one.
She figured Harry didn't want to see what was inside him, he didn't want to share what was inside her. She closed her eyes a moment, and every detail of him was there, "I guess I can't claim you were mistaken." Stating the obvious was a thing she did when she was annoyed and powerless. She let the silence fill the air, finally she rolled her eyes as words ate inside her mind until she gave in and spoke them aloud, "You're strong... that's what- why I- that's what brought me out of it." She hated the words, the suggestion that she needed help, the idea she was weak or helpless. All things she read into her own words, even if she wasn't saying them to anyone else.
Reply
Questions like that kept Harry far from philosophy classes.
It hurt to have to sit and watch Holly J struggle with herself, knowing there was nothing he could do, but he accepted it as penance for his past failures. When she was ready to talk, however, he was surprised by just what she had to say. Truthfully Harry did not want to know what was inside of him, some small voice telling him he was better off not knowing. Still, Holly J was not the one to sugar coat, well, anything, much less lying to make Harry feel better. She was upfront and direct, which while annoying also meant you could trust what she said.
"You got yourself out," Harry replied quietly. "Whatever tools you found in there, you're the one who got out." Strength, it was something he aspired for, and yet feared more than anything. The pursuit of it was necessary to protect the people he'd sworn to defend, but at the same time he'd seen too many times the price of power, even when it was acquired for the noblest of reasons.
Reply
She squeezed her hand a bit, an attempt to ball her hand into a fist. She stopped when her movement reminded her that she hadn't moved her hand from his since he reached out to her. She thankfully stopped before she accidentally crushed his hand. She pulled her arm back away from him, it was just weird. "Your hand, how is it after..." she trailed without mentioning what she was worried about. She did notice it didn't look good after he yanked that thing off her chest. Just asking about it gave her a quick hop down memory lane. She figured it healed but you could never tell, and he wandered off so quick he might not have let it heal properly.
"So... the whole vanishing act, what were you up to when you were gone," it was a fair question, and she didn't feel like continuing to think of her own failings for herself and others. So asking questions she had a reasonable guess to the answer helped. Not that she would let Harry know exactly what she was thinking just yet. She didn't have proof, but she saw a few things. And while she's really bad at dealing with people in a manner that is civil and socially normal, she is good at reading people and picking toward the truth. She narrowed down where the power to disappear during the fight came from, and had a few ideas of how that went down.
Reply
Though admittedly he was happy she stopped before she turned his finger bones to dust. After their last adventure Harry considered himself an expert on just how strong Holly J. really was. Looking down at his hand only when Holly J. redirected his attention to it, Harry's eyes traced the lines of scar tissue that crossed over his palm and the underside of his fingers, reminders of the price of pushing his own limits too far. It still felt stiff most days, and there was a definite reduction in sensation, though the school's infirmary had managed to patch him up enough that he hadn't lost too much mobility. In his mind, it was a small price to pay.
"It's alright," he replied with a tired smile, "I even got a new super power from it, I can tell when it's going to rain now."
The question was fair, and if it helped Holly J. keep her mind off her own problems then Harry was happy to oblige her, with some selective edits of course. "Not much, it was you pretty standard of coming of age teenage road trip. Saw new places, met new people, fought new villains, had a heartwarming Christmas adventure, the usual. By the way, did the news bother to cover the Rocket Gang incident at the Tennessee Zoo, or did it get buried under celebrity gossip?"
Reply
She laughed a little at his comment. Holly J labeled this sort of thing as her weakness for dorky idiots. She couldn't help but smile in spite of everything about her suggesting she shouldn't. "So should I have brought an umbrella for after work," she did have to call his bluff on this. It was in her nature.
"So you learned the true meaning of friendship and that home is where your friends hit you for running off for a month," she thought about the question. She vaguely remembered something about that in the later pages, "It was in the paper but I think Spider-Man saved or assaulted a bus with a rabbi, a naked cowboy, and a half dozen nuns on it. So the papers had a different focus. That and some socialite got a new piercing. So Zoo robberies didn't make any front pages."
She might as well stay with the lighter and happier conversation pieces. She'd save that other question for later, no point ruining the party now that they were both much closer to positive thinking.
Reply
Leave a comment