(Untitled)

[dirt_heart]

Who: dirt_heart, closed to existing CR (please contact me if you want to tag!)
What: Kelly experimenting with the Eden's fear spell
Where: Kelly's rooms, House Nine
When: Backdated, October 15th, Night
Warnings: Threatening behaviour/speech, mention of past abuse

Comments

[solarpurpura]

[She's coming downstairs to make disapproving faces at you, Kelly. She sweeps into his apartment like she belongs there, a dominant presence that it would have taken her years to find under the weight of all her nightmares.

Promenade is different. There's a light in her eyes that has never been there before: self-determination. Autonomy. She has the power to protect what she cares for, to choose how her energies are spent.

She's been upstairs baking while the city writhes in its own terror. It's a nice feeling, and she lowers the muffins into his hands.]

[dirt_heart]

[He worries about that change in her, really. For all that he's happy to see her free from the things that had plagued her, she is becoming different to the Eden he knows. She has no children here, and while it might be that removing that weight was enough to have her grow stronger like this, he could never see the children as just weights. He'd seen Sapphira grow up, seen how Eden was with the twins, with his daughters. How much of that Eden had to die in order for this one to flourish?

But he won't say any of that to her. Especially not now, when he's sure she knows he just stripped all his shields off just to see what nightmares were still lingering in his heart. He just takes the muffins, looking down at them quietly for a moment.]

I'm going to look like a muffin.

[solarpurpura]

[She flattens out her skirts as she settles onto the couch beside him.]

An aspiration?

[Gentle teasing from a stilted sense of humor.]

[dirt_heart]

[He smiles slightly, even if it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

One of yours, I think, the amount you feed to me.

[He picks one of the muffins and starts pulling it apart into bite-sized pieces. More for something to distract him than anything. He isn't even sure his stomach's settled enough to try eating, but he can force himself if he needs to.]

[flensing]

[These nightmares are comforting to her, in a sick way. They're familiar, and she knows the only way to deal with them is with her own strength and calm. It is so easy to care for others.

But there's is no lying that she has been spared from her own nightmares... She hopes Kelly has had the sense to look after himself, and she goes looking for him.]

[dirt_heart]

[He doesn't notice her straight away, still working on calming himself, laughter dying off as quickly as it had come. He starts putting the various charms back on, only noticing her in the doorway when he glances up. Not someone he'd really expected to see, but he should know better than to leave his doors open.]

How long have you been there?

[How much had she seen? His PORTAL was tucked away to stop it filming anything unintentionally, but he wouldn't put it past the teneka's capabilities to project something like his hallucinations.]

[flensing]

[She looks back at him quietly, watching the wards drop back against his chest.]

Not long. Are you all right?

[Maybe she doesn't have any judgment on the matter.]

[dirt_heart]

[Not long doesn't really give him an answer on how much she might have seen, but Anna's got no reason to lie to him. He moves to the charms he'd left on the coffee table - another one for around his neck, two for his wrist, and a set of perfectly normal looking cufflinks.]

As fine as I can be, in this place.

[He wanted to be home. He couldn't pretend like things weren't slowly falling away from him the longer he was here, and it was only exacerbated by the various things the city had subjected him to.]