(Untitled)

[boss_ofme]

In the early afternoon, John Skillpa stumbled into the hall of the Compound's fourth level, his arms leaden with clothes. A bundle of dresses, stockings and undergarments, grabbed hastily and held in a tangle against his chest. Dangling from one hand was a pink vanity case, and tucked under his arm was a softly curling brown wig

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[endlessdel]

Some days Del didn't know which way was up or down, some days she didn't know her own name but she always recognised one thing; hair. She had a strange obsession with it, the way it fell around people's faces and the way it was all so different. Del missed being able to change her own hair, so she rejoiced in other people's hair. Like Emma, Emma had beautiful, softly curled brown hair. Hair that was currently discarded on the table.

"No!" Delirium yelled angrily, reaching for Emma's things and trying to gather them up. Emma was not here. But He was. "No, these aren't yours."

[boss_ofme]

"No. No, wait a minute," John said, rounding the counter, his finger pointed accusingly at her, but even angry, even furious, he would always be as intimidating as a mouse.

Emma had more gumption than he would ever have.

"They're not yours, either," he insisted, flustered, his own tongue stumbling over itself, "Don't... Don't you touch them."

[endlessdel]

Delirium was older than time. She was of the Endless. And she was Insanity. Delirium was not intimidated by him, she stood her ground glaring up at him as she pulled Emma's things to herself.

"No, they're Emma's and you're not Emma. What are you going to do to them?" Delirium said clutching Emma's things protectively. "When Emma is here, she can have them but not you."

[boss_ofme]

"I don't know what she's told all of you, but she's a liar," he shouted, hands curled into tight fists at his sides. "She doesn't belong here. She doesn't. This is my life, not hers. This is my responsibility. Mine to deal with. Not hers, and not yours!"

[unitethem]

Rose's eyes widened in alarm, and she pushed herself up from her table, her book (The Doomsday Book) abandoned right beside her tea. "Hold on, hold on, mate, where's the fire?" She stepped closer, every bit and line of her cautious. "You need some help? I can probably help you find something." She moved a little more, putting herself between the man and the case he'd dropped onto the kitchen table.

"M'name's Rose. You got a name?" Her voice was low, and every bit of things she was trying her best to be soothing. No reason to go banging about, you'd think, but apparently he'd found a reason. "Whatever it is, we'll sort it. Alright?"

[boss_ofme]

"I don't need help," he insisted, eyes averted from her face, feeling a rush of heat pooling in his cheeks. Mother taught him his manners, but she'd also taught him to avoid strangers-- avoid everyone, and with her, that rule always took precedence over being polite.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. This is my... It's my responsibility."

Nothing else mattered. Emma had to go, had to be banished once and for all, and he was the only one who could do it. No one else would understand that.

[unitethem]

"Alright, alright," Rose said, holding up her hands, up and away so that she was as least threatening as possible. "I just- you look like you're looking for something." She paused, and then her voice lowered. "What's the case? What're you looking for?"

She'd not moved, still holding herself back and away. "I just might know where it is, is all."

[boss_ofme]

"I have to get rid of it. All of it," he admitted, reluctant but unable to stop himself. John wasn't a liar. That was Emma's job.

"I was looking for matches."

[worldisburning]

Gale's known Katniss for long enough to know when something bad's about to happen; he's gotten good at rolling with the punches. He's become at expert at anticipating the unpredictable. At the counter with a mug of coffee in his hand, he watches the man rifling through the drawers.

"What are you looking for?" he asks.

[boss_ofme]

John froze, hunching even further in on himself, his eyes darting up just long enough to catch a glimpse of the man speaking to him.

"Nothing," he insisted, slowly closing the drawer he'd been riffling through. "I'm... I'm all right." Moving toward the table, he gathered Emma's things as calmly as he could manage.

[worldisburning]

There was clearly something occuring here. Gale sets his cup down and pushes away from the counter.

"Funny, that," he says, gently. "You don't look alright."

[boss_ofme]

"You should... mind your own business," he forced out, taking a step back, his arms laden with her clothes. She'd ruined so much. All of these people... they knew Emma. They didn't know him, and they would defend her against him blindly.

He was on his own, but that was no different than how things had been in Peacock, after Mother passed.

[callofkaren]

Karen stopped short when she watched into the kitchen, trying to figure out what John was doing. He seemed like an excitable kind of guy, and she almost turned around to let him find whatever he was looking for.

It was as she turned that she recognized Emma's make up case, and she walked over to it, looking down at the case before looking up and around the kitchen. "What are you doing?" she finally asked.

[boss_ofme]

"I'm fine on my own. I don't need your help," he mumbled, keeping his head down, face flushed at his own rudeness. Mother was right. People were always meddling. Meddling, nosy gossips who didn't know how to leave a person in peace.

He slammed the drawer shut and opened another.

[callofkaren]

It was people who said they didn't need your help like that that needed it the most. Karen eyed him before looking back at Emma's case, then seeing a familiar looking dress among the pile of things there.

"What the hell...where's Emma?"

[boss_ofme]

He froze, hands curling into fists and resting on the counter top.

"Emma... She's gone. She's not coming back." He kept his face hidden, shadowed behind the fall of hair much shaggier than he was used to. When he'd looked into the mirror that afternoon, he'd seen Emma look back at him, even after he'd scrubbed his face of her makeup.

[turnedoutfine]

Parked at another table with homework and a snack of fruit, Alexis looked up when the man came in and dumped a big pile of what looked like women's clothing onto another one. She frowned slightly, puzzled, and was about to ask if he was okay when she spotted a familiar object among the fabric.

"Hey, that's Emma's," she said, standing and going over to it, pulling it out slightly from under the pile to uncover it completely. "This is Emma's case."

She tugged on a familiar-looking purple fabric, holding it up to reveal the pretty dress Emma had said she could borrow. She looked over at the guy rummaging through drawers, still frowning. "These are Emma's clothes, too. What are you doing with Emma's things?"

[boss_ofme]

"Emma's gone," he said with as much confidence as he could muster, his head ducked, hoping to hide his face.

The people of Peacock had taken Emma under their wing, accepted her as one of their own, turned a blind eye to all of their strangeness. But John knew who she was. He knew Emma was taking over his life, but he couldn't trust that when people realized what she was -- what they were -- that they would be as accepting of him as they'd been of his so-called wife.

With his eyebrows plucked, his face waxed, his hair growing long, he looked more and more like her, every day. Soon, there might be nothing left of him, and he couldn't let that happen.

[turnedoutfine]

"What? Gone?" Alexis' eyes widened. She hadn't heard anything, and most news traveled pretty fast on the island. Had it just happened? "When? And that doesn't explain what you're doing with all her stuff." All of Emma's pretty, carefully picked clothes, her case - it didn't seem right, whatever he was doing with it all.

[boss_ofme]

"Just now. This morning," he said, but already he was doubting that she was gone for good. She'd be back, as long as there was a reason for her to return. Her clothes, her things, were tying her to this place. Just like these people were.

"I'm getting rid of them." Then, after a moment, he decided, "Here, you can have them, if you want."