I hope I'm doing resurrection right.
[Brunch has had, shall we say, better days.
He doesn't remember what he's been up to for the past week - which happens to include dying, so when he wakes up somewhere he's never seen before, and with a feeling of weird iffiness too (his head's a little tender, his hand's a little stiff, and worst of all, his back aches) he has to fight back panic ( Read more... )
He doesn't remember what he's been up to for the past week - which happens to include dying, so when he wakes up somewhere he's never seen before, and with a feeling of weird iffiness too (his head's a little tender, his hand's a little stiff, and worst of all, his back aches) he has to fight back panic ( Read more... )
Oh. Well, whatever brought that reaction on, Brunch can be sure she wasn't afraid of him, since she releases a breath in an actual 'phew' and slumps a bit as soon as she's looking right at him. Whoever she was expecting it to be, it was definitely someone else.
But, assumed fears aside, something is clearly actually wrong! Seeing how harried he is, she immediately frowns in a new bout of worry. Ho boy, did something really bad happen last week after all? Something even Brunch himself would notice?]
Marik, what is it? [She glances him over a moment - searching for some clear sign he's hurt - before stepping backwards with the door open, silently waving him in with the same hand she'd had on the door - her right arm's staying at her side.] Is somebody hurt?
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...I....don't know. That's why you have to help me. [He rubs his head again, stepping into the apartment, letting himself sound a little helpless.] Seiran....It's gotten to my head again. I don't know what it's made me do.
[By "it" he means the DR, of course, and hasn't a clue that statement could be interpreted any other way.]
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Closing the door behind him, she gives a weak nod as he claims the DR's been messing with him, not looking the least bit surprised.]
I know. I- I think a lot of people were that way the last few days. But I've been staying in here since- [She gives a weird wave to him that could mean just about anything, before making a similar gesture to the couch, motioning him to sit.] But, it sounds like there's something still wrong now?
[Yeah, again she doesn't sound surprised. Maybe even expectant.]
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He sinks into the couch, suspecting the worst - mostly about the DR at this point, but he doesn't want his friend holding out on him either.] Since-? It was bad, wasn't it. Tell me everything. I can take it, and I need to know. I've l---
[He doesn't want to put it that way and hangs his head, playing up the pathos and resenting how easy it is.] Seiran, someone took it. [His hands fist in the skirt of his robes and he forces himself to say it, realizing as he does she's the wrong person to come to about this particular Item, but who else can he turn to?] The...Rod's gone.
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But, she ironically gets to put that off when he admits what's truly bugging him. Not hard to guess, and seeing as she actually can help with that-
Not giving him a chance to question what she's doing or why she'd not responding to what he said, she puts up a finger in a 'just a minute' gesture before going towards her bedroom, and then promptly doubling back towards the kitchen, messing around in drawers a second, then coming back with... an oven mitt?
Well, whatever she's doing, she goes into her room wearing it, then comes out fast holding a towel wrapped around something long and thin in her covered hand.]
Sorry, I- [She starts to say as she comes up, but, well, it's probably best to wait and give it back and deal with explaining first. So, instead of sitting beside him, she perches across on the coffee table, and holds whatever it is out to him.]
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He reaches out to reclaim what's his, unwrapping the towel from it. Did she have any idea what losing this would have meant....she wouldn't take it on purpose, would she? Not if she just gave it right back. But - but-
He doesn't understand. He knows he's about to get angry. But right now it's like there's a wall in his head he's trying to think around. Still, he's relieved. The plan's been saved. Even if...]
It was you. Why.
[It's safe! That's all that should matter. But still. This doesn't add up. Oh gods, what's he been doing?
Fear, however, hides behind the first glimmers of suspicious anger.]
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She can't help but visibly flinch at the look on his face - not likely helping with that suspicion. What was she supposed to do?! She couldn't just leave it with him like that! But, now what's he going to think?! And- She's messing this up fast, but she can't think enough to explain without causing more trouble and making things worse, so, what can she-
Okay, time to calm down. Now. And while her eyes might have been skirting around him - quite a trick, with him straight ahead within arm's reach, she manages to force eye contact again with a mess of fear and defensiveness.]
I couldn't just leave it with you - Not like when you weren't even- [Messing this up again. She mouths a moment, falls silent, then starts again after leaning forward. A hell of a lot more timid, though.]
Marik, have you ever seen a double of yours acting really... off? [Yeah, that's nice and direct.]
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She's not saying that, the reasonable part of his mind insists. He's drawing a connection where there isn't any. There's no reason for him to get a sick sort of stabbing in his gut, or for his head to twinge - weakly. But there's nothing wrong with him. Not like them. She's wrong, if whatever he's done reminds her of them. She's wrong.
His voice and facial expression are hard.] None that I have anything in common with. I didn't ask what it did to my doubles and I don't care. What. Did it do. To me.
[And what right does she have to determine when he should and shouldn't have the Rod, anyway? He's not some baby who needs to be monitored with his toys. Yet she's afraid. She's afraid of something. Him? What he'd...been...this past week? Oh, gods, is that what it'd done, had it turned him into someone like one of them, the Mariks who had betrayed their families? He doesn't think he wants memories of that.
Or is she suggesting something else....But what else could there be? This is stupid. He should just be glad he has the Rod back and leave her, maybe never come back if she's going to just decide he can't be trusted with the Rod sometimes.
But he stays. His feet won't budge. Leaving would mean running away.]
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But he's refusing to admit it. She is struggling to find anyway she can to be honest with him without risk, and he's shooting it down. And between that refusal, his suspicion however understandable, and what he's been sharing that she hasn't even confronted him on? It's enough to make her grit her teeth and glare right back at him as she calls him out.]
That. That right there. Assuming you have nothing in common with another you? If you won't even consider it, how am I supposed to explain anything to you? Forget this last week - anything??
[She catches herself before she blurts something really bad, but her frustration is sincere and obvious enough, so much she stares down at the ground as she attempts to cover her feelings even half as well as he apparently can.] Goddammit, like walking on freaking eggshells... [Yeah, she's not managing that well. But the fact is, even if he gets mad at her, even if he stomps off and she'll have to fight tooth and nail to gain back whatever ground she loses, how can she let him walk off thinking it's okay to leave him be when his dark is in control, even if he doesn't know? It's a danger to him.]
You weren't yourself. You wanted to kill me- Would have killed me, if not for my guardians. And I was trying to make sure you didn't kill someone else- Would you rather I left the Rod with you when you had no control of yourself? Or what you were doing with it?
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Explain? It's my life. What can you--
[And he might have shouted at her, he might have stormed off like she'd been fearing, he might even have hit her, but then she actually answers his question and he pauses. So it'd - what? It really was vampire week all over again, leaving him without even the memories. In that case - if that's what he's been doing - no wonder he'd reminded her of -
He looks down at the Rod, hating the Dressing Room with all his might, still hating even after the relief hits.]
So. That was it. [He chuckles a little and pulls a wan imitation of a sarcastic smile, eyes a little crazed.] Good, Seiran! Even when I can't look out for myself, you will.
[But what kind of backup system all but accuses him of - but she didn't. She knows something, there's something off in her world, but that's as far as he can logically claim, right? If she actually believed him guilty of - that - she wouldn't want to be around him. She wouldn't have given it back.
He's smiling now, bitterly, and still can't bring himself to look at her, unsure what to do, stamping on the part of himself that wants an explanation, stamping just as hard on the part that wants to order her to hold him.] I'm glad I can count on you....
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Well, maybe not at all - she can tell he's confused and torn, but what he's actually thinking? Not a clue. He's being sarcastic with her, but, is he mad? And at her, or just, all this? But, that. The last thing he says, it sounds almost- Does he mean it, or-
Either way, her confusion's drained a lot of the frustration out of her. Something on his face - aside from the lingering unhinged edge, that is - urges her to reach out to him. And she even starts to, hand rising up towards his shoulder or arm, but she drops it back to her lap when she second guesses herself.
For one thing, with the Rod so close, there's a virtual wall up against her.
So instead, she responds to his last words like he is serious. If he wants an explanation, she can give him a sort of one-] I'm scared, Marik. [And she might look a smidgen like it, and she holds her hand up to pinch her thumb and pointer near together.] The you of my world? He came this close to losing himself, disappearing. And, I'm not trying to, stop you, or get in your way, I just- I'm afraid what happens here? It might take away even that.
[She stumbles to a stop, goes quiet, then leans forward and down to try and meet his eye as well as she can, even if it's hard like this.] I do not want to see that happen to you, or worse. [Not just because it'd be a repeat of a Marik near dying, but because it's him. Which she doesn't say, but her tone certainly implies it.]
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Brunch lifts his head and speaks through numb lips, meeting her eyes, still not sure whether he understands, though there's one thing he won't ever stop arguing.]
But I'm not him. I'm me. And I'm not losing.
[He twists his hands awkwardly on the Rod, then tosses it on the couch behind him so it won't get in the way. Stupid gods. Thanks to them, it'd be too easy for him to kill her if the place messes with his behavior again. He speaks, as it were, to the Rod.]
I don't care if it's the Pharaoh or this place or fate or even myself in the way. I'm not disappearing before I've lived. They can all do their worst.
[He scowls, then turns back to her, aware he got needlessly dramatic and scolding himself when really, everything's fine now, so what's the problem?] This worked out, didn't it? [Another half-hearted little laugh.] The place scared you. But you did the right thing, and now you're okay. And I'm back. I'll always come back.
So save my Rod for me each time, okay? [He reaches for her hand, stepping closer, trying to believe what he himself is saying. He's going to persevere. That much he knows. But it's really, really hard...]
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But while she's staring and surprised he got it out of the way, he's going on and explaining himself. And he might regret saying it, but he'll be getting one very pleased stare for his trouble. What he says rings familiar, and again she's stuck not mentioning something to him and it likely shows. But for once, it's not something bad she's keeping quiet about.]
I know. That's what I'm relying on- that you won't let yourself go, no matter what happens. Or has happened. [She manages to grin - How can she feel so concerned and confident about it at the same time?
But even that small smile breaks at the mention of the place, what happened. It, how can she help him guard against that? She's already having trouble thinking of how to deal with his dark half, much less without the DR helping him out! What if it kept happening, and he found a way to counter her guardians, get to her? Or she doesn't run into him at all and he, who knows?
Well, for now, she'll just have to take his assurance he won't disappear. Not for good. She gives a small nod, to him and herself, before lifting her head as he goes for her hand. Yeah, it doesn't take more than him reaching before she's clutching his back with a wane grin, leaning closer without rising off the table.]
Yeah, I will. Though I'd hope it's not an issue again - especially since you can guard it a lot better than me.
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Heh. No worries there....It's all fine now.
[If Seiran's hands wander enough, though, or hit the right spots on his back, she'll notice there are holes torn in his cloak. Anyone lifting up the cloak and staring at the back of his robes will notice a similar set of holes in the robes and dried blood all over both his back and the underside of the robe. The DR may have fixed up the wounds for the most part. It didn't do anything to his clothing.]
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Or so she thinks until she starts leaning away, meaning to pull back just enough to look at him. But her hands slide as a result, and hit a hard part on his back. What, is that? Is he wearing a hard vest or something? She can't tell, being in front of him and his robe on. But while she doesn't get the holes she finds at first, she finds where her hand just was, and squeezes the fabric, easily recognizes the 'cracking' of dried blood.
...
Pulling back properly - or as far as she can with her hand still on his rodes - she stares at him with something just this side of alarm.]
Marik? [She wants to ask what happened, but given he won't know? Yeah.]
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That's. Not a good look, Seiran. And what is she doing to his back. He's a little touchy about his back to begin with, her holding him had been fine, but...]
...What? Is there...What's wrong?
[He'll be craning his neck over his shoulder to take a look, at first trying to sweep the cloak out of the way but then just unfastening it, pulling it free around her arm.
He stares at it. Turns it around. Stares some more. Starts to feel a little queasy again. But he's only a little sore....how....]
...You didn't know about that.
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