rattle...what’s that rattle?

[felinemystique]

Characters: Bastet/Yoruichi felinemystique, and OPEN to witnesses/arrivals after the fact
Date/Time: late morning, Monday, August 15, directly after/during this entry.
Location: A remote area of the Park
Rating: PG-13 or so
Summary: Yoruichi has unwisely taunted the Tree and its creator, and so pays the price.
Notes: While I know some people will arrive during

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[crimsonmischief]

Crimson had been working in his lab, lost in his various researches, his journal sitting next to him on the table, unopened and unchecked that day. So it wasn't surprising that he missed Bastet's outburst and loss of control due to whoever the anonymous writer had been. However, what he did not miss was the flare of that familiar reiatsu, turning it from a lazy summer breeze to a raging, fiery tiger. It caused his head to snap up in alarm, grey eyes flashing with worry as he dropped the test tube he had been holding

[weaver_girl]

"Thank you, but I'll be fine." It was more than a polite reflex. Lin made Kagerou invariably feel on edge, not quite threatened but very much like walking on eggshells. They shared an acute concern for Yoruichi now. That notwithstanding, Kagerou could find her own way back from the Park, now that the Tree's attack seemed to have abated.

She stiffened her spine, standing up straight. "I'm all right. I'll just head home in a bit." For now, she could just find the nearest bench and sit until she felt calmer and more centered: healing left her a little mentally worn, as if she'd just solved a score of hard math problems.

[crimsonmischief]

Crimson's eyes narrowed at Kagerou slightly, assessing her silently before nodding silently. "Very well then, if you are sure, Kagerou-san."

Standing, he cradled Yoruichi in his arms, exchanged another glance with Lin that told her she could follow if she wished, and then took off towards the residence area.

[felinemystique]

The trip back home seemed to take longer than usual, and part of her bristled at having to be carried past so many people. She'd exposed enough of herself to the public today.

Neil...she didn't talk about him, to anyone. Even Kisuke and Lin didn't know. And to have something she held so closely exposed to everyone in such a way...even if they'd been lies, they'd been plausible enough, and hit enough of a chord that she'd just snapped.

Endangering herself, foolishly, and publicly tipping her hand after all these years of laying low.

"Shit," she muttered into his shoulder.

[sting_to_death]

Lin looked again from Kagerou to Crimson and Bastet, unsure of what to do. She had never valued Kagerou's opinion (or anyone's, really, if they weren't Bastet-sama) much, so even if she said she would be fine Lin still felt the obligation to make sure she was all right. Furthermore, she still thought it a good idea to leave Bastet and Crimson a few minutes.

So she didn't take off with them, folding her arms on her chest and waiting to see whether Kagerou would let her follow her around for a bit or if she really was determined to be on her own. In that case, she wouldn't insist. Surely her expression, somewhere between worried, relieved and annoyed wasn't of the most encouraging, but either way she was staying, sure that must count for something, considering it came from someone like her.

[weaver_girl]

Kagerou glanced at Lin as Crimson departed with Yoruichi, unable to loosen the tight, tense knot at the base of her spine. "I'll be fine," she repeated, at something of a loss as to what else to say. "You don't need to trouble yourself. I know Crimson-san asked you to, but..."

I don't want you to stay. I want someone who actually cares. It was a horrible, selfish thought. Maybe Lin was doing the best she could--Kagerou was rather too shaken to stop and sort out the minutiae of the situation. She gave Lin another brief look, then began picking her way across the battle-scrambled ground with its shattered pieces and splinters of wood and scattered leaves.

[crimsonmischief]

A quiet snort was the only response Bastet got to her muffled curse, but as it was a sound that Crimson did not often make, it probably said more to her than any words that the man might have been able to string together given the time to gather them into coherency. Well, he thought as he gently nudged open the door to her apartment, striding towards the bedroom and gently settling Bastet into it, at least it seemed like she had realized her mistake. Perhaps he could save himself the trouble of giving a lecture.

[felinemystique]

As good as the bed felt against her aching, exhausted muscles, she still couldn't help a wince as she settled in. Not to mention the itch of dried blood and dirt all over her skin. All in all, it would be a long time until she was comfortable; she wasn't sure she could stay awake through a bath.

She closed her eyes, blowing out a weary sigh. "Go ahead and say it," she murmured. She'd heard that snort, and was sure he had something to say about all this.

[sting_to_death]

Very well then. Lin had more than fulfilled her obligation as far as she was concerned, now she could run after Bastet and it would not be her fault if the girl never got home or if something happened to her. Her only concern was that it would have further upset Bastet, for that she could only count on Kagerou to be as strong as she'd flaunted to be refusing her help.

One last glance at the girl, and then she was gone, following Crimson and Bastet's reiatsu.

/exits

[weaver_girl]

It was better this way, Kagerou thought. The exhaustion pressing down on her would lift reasonably quickly, and she wouldn't spend the whole way home with a knot of tension between her shoulders because Lin made her feel on pins and needles. She didn't think the other woman even meant to project such a constant aura of menace, but she was too weary and preoccupied now to focus on shunting it aside.

She concentrated on the thought of home, and let it keep her company for the walk back to the elevator.

[crimsonmischief]

"Ah, ah..." It came out as a soft exhalation of breath as Crimson made his way out of the bathroom with a large basin of warm water and a towel slung over his shoulder. Setting it down on the floor next to Bastet's bed, he wet the towel and wrung it out before proceeding to slowly and gently wipe away the blood and dirt. Those, he could get rid of easily enough, but the pain and hurt... Those weren't so simple. "What can I say that Bastet-san has no doubt already thought of?"

[goneonenight]

The feel of the water was soothing, and she could feel some of the tension leeching from her with every swipe of cloth over her skin.

"Yeah. I know I shouldn't have." But the explosion of anger had almost been a necessary evil, after all these years of being manipulated. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was someone trying to control her.

"I thought I wanted him dead," she murmured. "Not anymore. I want him to face what he's done. Then I want him to suffer for it."

Her voice, though weary, was cold and matter of fact. There was no forgiveness in her where Fugue was concerned.

[crimsonmischief]

There was a quiet hum as Crimson took in what she said, rinsing the towel out in the basin before reapplying it to her skin. Wanting Fugue to face reality... From what he had seen of the man, that would be a hard task, but not impossible. But wanting him to suffer for it... It was hard, he decided, wanting to cause someone you felt nothing but a sort of morbid curiosity and loathing pity for enough pain as to make him suffer, but when he had saw what that anonymous someone had said to Bastet, he had certainly felt enough anger to want such a punishment. It was fitting, and Bastet had gone through more than she ever should have, and if that was what it took for her to get closure...

"Then he will." The towel traveled over her arm and his eyes followed a droplet of water along her skin before they rose up to hers, a silent promise in them. "Somehow, I'll find a way."

[felinemystique]

She held his gaze a moment, then shook her head. "You don't like the idea, do you?" There was no accusation in her voice, simply acceptance. She wasn't proud of how she felt, and knew that earlier in her stay she would have been able to take the high road, settling for a safe return home, with no hard feelings.

But she wasn't ashamed, either. It just wasn't right that he'd be able to get away with what he'd done, and if she had to tap into her inner ruthlessness, then so be it.

"Don't go against who you are for me," she said, touching her fingertips to his cheek. "I wouldn't hold it against you." She held staying true to herself above nearly anything; she couldn't ask a loved one to do anything different.

[crimsonmischief]

"No," he admitted easily enough as he leaned over her to clean off her other arm. What was there to like about making someone suffer? He wasn't that sadistic. "But I do not dislike it either."

To him, it was something that needed to be done. He may not join in or participate aside from getting them to that point, but he would not stop her either. Instead, he would be there to watch her back, to make sure that no one else tried to interfere, and to stop her from going too far for her own conscience to handle.

"And after all, I do not know who I am because of him."

[sting_to_death]

Lin hoped she wouldn't barge in on something she wasn't supposed to hear, but at some point she couldn't hold herself back anymore-- much like Bastet's anger against the Tree. She'd been good at stalling with Kagerou, hadn't travelled to her mentor's house as fast as she could have, but once she got there she opened doors without knocking, almost bumping into Bastet's things as she went-- which was very uncharacteristic of someone as graceful and coordinated as her.

"Bastet-sama, are you all right?" Yes, she probably had just interrupted some kind of important conversation. No, she couldn't have helped it. She just stayed by the door, visibly wanting to come closer but not daring to until she was told it was all right to do so. After all, the last thing Bastet needed to do right now was being smothered by her, even if she had the best intention-- enough months and enough talks about 'boundaries' had drilled into her thick skull that maybe, sometimes, it was more of a proof of affection to hold back, rather than to be the woman's