[open] a friend in need is a friend indeed

[idontlikecake]

There is so much Lily Fuchizaki needs to do. There's the whole catching up on grad school after her ward went partially insane bit, but right now, she's on her way up to see Iris in the Kashtta. That doesn't mean she won't bump into a few other people on the way. If anything, it's pretty likely considering how overly polite she can get.

Sailor

Comments

[sophicsulphur]

Iris' condition hasn't changed much. Or, well, has changed much, considering how she just spent a brief stint effectively birdbrained; but from her perspective, that's not the important change. She's broken. She isn't healing. Those things haven't changed, and as long as they don't, she's still stuck: she doesn't know what to do.

She looks up when Lily approaches, which is a good sign, and calls out her name, which is another. She's also out of bed, and kneeling on the ground: she appears to be fairly well-mired in paint, paper and tools, her wing trailing awkwardly around the explosion of craft supplies now littering the floor of isolation ward three. Her wing shifts position slightly, almost casually-- though to trained Fuchizaki eyes, the motion is, no doubt, anything but casual-- to shield the canvas from her visitor; but there's a smile on her face, if weak.

It doesn't really hide her unease, a slight restlessness that, in truth, has little to do with what she's painting and everything to do with waiting: waiting, interminably

[sophicsulphur]

She tilts her head, not quite understanding. Her paintings will speak well enough when she's gone. And if she were to make some kind of public protest....

"It's a nice idea, but... I'm not sure what I can do," she says, mildly. "I could stand there holding these, or I could... accompany my own exhibit, I guess. But doesn't that just make me a target? Isn't that what everyone keeps telling me I shouldn't do? Be public?"

There's an edge to her voice now, just a hint of one. "If I thought for a moment that it would be safe for me to-- to build a platform in Grant Park, and shout about what happened to me until my throat was sore, until my lungs gave out... I'd do it." She shrugs a little. "I might do it anyway, if there's nothing else left. But... I don't think that's what you had in mind."

[idontlikecake]

"There are ways to be safe about it," Lily says. "Ways that don't make you a target, and instead, make you a beacon of hope for those who need your help."

She smiles, leaning forward. "It just takes a little bit of figuring things out. I can help you with that. In fact, we could even set up a fundraiser. To help those who have been hurt by the CLF. You could speak about what's happened to you. You can do that, without getting hurt worse.

"I promise."

[sophicsulphur]

Lily has Iris' interest, now. It's not that she believes that promise, not too deeply; she's grown too wary to take promises at face value any more. But still, the idea that she could speak, that she could have a voice....

Ever since Owen had cowed her with his words, pumped cold sedative into her veins, robbed her of her ability to say no-- she's been longing to scream. To shout, to speak, to tell the world in her own words, without mitigation or censorship, how she feels. How it hurts. How it's so wrong, and how it should never be allowed to happen to anybody again.

It's the only thing, perhaps, that could enthuse her now; that, and the prospect of healing. Of course, she seems less than enthused still, her motions still sluggish, her expression still drained; but there's something in there, a twist of urgency. It's small, but Lily's a Fuchizaki. She'll pick it up easily enough.

"I... I want to," she says, and she's not sure if the stammer is from fear, or anger, or hope. "Help me. Please."

[idontlikecake]

"I'll do anything I can to help," Lily says, taking in a deep breath. "Really."

She pauses, looking over at the painting. "I can get you a journal -- a non psychic one -- and maybe you can mull over what you'd say, when you have a chance to say it. Maybe that'll help until I can set something up for you."

She hopes it's enough. She has to keep Iris alive, hoping. For Kaden's sake, at the very lease. She could try to replace Iris, with some other girl, but then he'll still have to figure out why Iris left. Even though it's not his fault. It can't be his fault.

[sophicsulphur]

"Okay," she says, nodding, more sure of herself than she's sounded throughout all of this. A journal she can do. She'll write down her thoughts. It shouldn't take long: they've been there, brewing in the back of her mind, since all this began. Structuring them into coherent sentences will be the only hard part.

She looks away, somewhat sheepish, when she says her next words. "Please... let it be soon. I know-- you've got other things, I know you're busy and stuff... I just... I can't wait forever." She smiles a wry smile in the direction of the floor. "Just... being honest. I really... I really do appreciate it, though. Thank you."

[idontlikecake]

"I know," Lily says, and there's a sadness in the words that belongs to Jessi. She's more than aware that she doesn't have all the time in the world to get the girl to the point that Kaden can have her again. Too aware.

"And it's not a problem. Anything else I can do for you, just ask, okay?" Not that she necessarily has to do it, but offers like that tend to make people trust you more. "Not even necessarily now, but you can journal or call me any time."

[sophicsulphur]

She nods, and mms her response, setting her painting back against the wall. It isn't quite done, but maybe she'll start another one, too. She already has some ideas. Her fingers are stained and flaking with paint, and she likes it that way. Being immersed in her work gets her out of her head. It's therapeutic, the pouring out, and the routineness of it.

A splotch of red paint is squeezed out onto the paper, bright and blobby and fresh.

"Thank you," she whispers again, hearing the awareness in Lily's I know. For a moment, she's sad to have saddened her, but... honesty, now. She will get nowhere, any more, without honesty.

[idontlikecake]

"Do you want me to stay a little while longer?" Lily asks, not knowing what else to say anymore. She's gotten what she needs. Or at least as far as she'll get for right now. There's no doubt in her mind that she'll be able to arrange for something so that that Iris can vent. Get it out of her system.

And hopefully, that will change things. But for now, she'll try to be a sympathetic shoulder, even if she doesn't particularly want to be.

Whatever works.

[sophicsulphur]

Iris shakes her head, then looks apologetic almost at once. "It's not that-- I'm happy to have you here," she says, and does mean it. "But, I mean... I don't need you to stay. I... I think I wanna work on this stuff." She gesticulates to her painting with the brush. "A little more."

Really, she just feels the sooner Lily's helping give her a space to speak, the better she'll feel. It might not change anything, but the act in potentia, simmering at the bottom of her heart, waiting for release, will only make her anxious. And she doesn't need any more anxiety right now.

She smiles her best smile, not sure whether another thank you for coming is overdoing it.