InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Who wears short shorts?"

fbiblond (fbiblond) wrote in oblivionrp,
@ 2009-07-01 12:27:00

Patience is a Virtue
Who: Lisa, Sean - brief Molly (pre trouble)
Where: Chelsea and Lisa's Room
What: Worry/checking up
When: Morning

Sean needed to calm down. He knew a session in the gym was in order after he'd questioned the prisoner. But now he was working on the worry and self anger as he made his way to the room Lisa shared with Chelsea. He knocked brusquely on the door and Molly opened it.

"I know that Nazi knock anywhere. Someone's got the mads in a bad way." Molly half glared at him. "Lose it with Lisa. She's had a worse time than you. Don't make me go grandpa on your ass." Her green eyes were serious.

Sean's worried gaze shot passed Molly to where Lisa was propped up on her bed. The sight of her wrapped leg and black eye sent a cold shot through his heart.

He looked back at Molly. "I'm not gonna take it out on Lisa. You can go now, sweetpea. I'm pretty sure Lisa won't be going anywhere for the rest of the day."

"Okies. I have a craft project without the arts or paint to work on anyways. Useful busy-ness. I have materials to gather and draft a partner in crime." Molly gave him another stern glare. "No cruel and unusuals."

Sean spotted the large pile of romance novels and movies Molly had evidently brought a cooped up Lisa. The movies were comedies (high on the Mel Brooks) and Disney. "I'd say you already covered the cruel and unusual , Mols." He leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead. "Go on. Stick to the main halls in shouting distance of security and..."

"Public places without company. I know the rules." Molly nodded and turned to offer a smile and wave to Lisa. "The bear grumps and growles, but he's a teddy deep down. Under the teeth and claws." With that she half danced out of the room.

Sean moved to take a seat beside the bed, his pale eyes taking Lisa all in. The purple bruise swollen around her cheek and eye made her clear skin seem even paler. She looked sad and a bit broken, yet still a bit like a china doll. His chest felt tight.

He instinctively reached out to caress around the bruise as he made a sympathetic wince. "Seems like you have a habit of getting banged up. First by the ship and now this."

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

(Post a new comment)

karanissa
2009-07-02 03:53 am UTC (link)

Somehow Lisa knew who was at the door even before Molly opened it. She'd been worrying about this moment since the attack. Sean had thought so highly of her a couple of days ago, but she knew that her confession had destroyed much of his faith in her. Still, he had trusted her enough not to lock her up, and that had been something to build on.

Lisa didn't really understand why it was important to her to regain Sean's faith, but it was. Maybe it was because she valued Molly so highly as a friend, and Sean and Molly were so close. Or maybe it was because Sean seemed like the one man on this ship most capable of keeping them all safe until they were rescued. Perhaps it was because she saw Sean as the one person who was most likely to help her case when they got back to the real world and she was on trial. All of those things were good reasons, and she thought they each contributed to her feelings, but yet...it seemed like there was still more to it. Since her husband and her best friend had tried to kill her, it seemed her life had become a whirlwind of madness. But Sean was like a voice of reason, fighting against the insanity. Her Starbuck.

Her desire to reconnect with Sean and win back his trust was the reason Lisa had been in Circean Delight when the attack had occurred. She had sent Sean an impromptu dinner invitation through the ship's journal system, not knowing that he was asleep after having been up for more than 48 straight hours. She had requested a table on the balcony, far enough from other patrons that she and Sean could talk without being overheard. She had been prepared to tell Sean all about who she really was; she would have truthfully answered any question.

But instead of the evening she'd imagined, she'd gotten involved in a fight. Well, to be honest, it wasn't so much a fight as an attack; Lisa didn't throw a single punch or kick. She had apologized to the woman, had tried to calm her down with words, and when that failed, had tried to run, but it had all been futile. Even as she was being beaten, Lisa had worried about what Sean would think. She had not fought back, at least in part because she didn't want to give Sean any reason to think she was a danger to anyone.

Over and over again, Lisa had reviewed the events leading up to the beating. Once she had bumped into that woman, had there been anything else she could have done to prevent the attack? She couldn't think of anything, but still...what would Sean think of her now? Just a day after he had trusted her enough not to lock her up, she got involved in a brawl? Surely she had now lost whatever respect Sean still had for her after the confession. He'd probably view her as a silly little girl who couldn't be left alone for a minute without getting into trouble.

And now the wait was almost over. Sean was there at the door discussing something with Molly, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. Sean glanced in her direction briefly before turning back to Molly. Lisa hated for him to see her this way, all bruised and broken. If only he could have seen her yesterday instead, uninjured and dressed in her pretty new dress. Then Molly turned to her, smiled, waved, and tried to reassure her. Molly had turned out to be such a precious friend; Lisa couldn't imagine what her life would be like now if Molly hadn't been around. It pained Lisa that she had been the source of so much distress for Molly over the last couple of days, but Molly was proving to be a real trooper. She had completely forgiven Lisa after the confession, and had done so much to try to cheer Lisa up after the attack. Lisa gave Molly a smile in return and waved, and then Molly was gone. "Hi, Sean. Thanks for coming," she said as Sean took a seat beside her.

So far Sean didn't seem like he was upset with her; that at least was a good sign. His hand was gentle as he caressed her bruised and swollen face. She gave him a weak smile. "It's a habit I just picked up recently, and one I'm anxious to get rid of," she said. She struggled to think of what to say next. "Sean, I'm so sorry this happened. The last thing I wanted was to get into a fight."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

fbiblond
2009-07-02 07:15 pm UTC (link)

He offered her a small, reassuring smile, his eyes looking earnestly into hers. "From what I hear you had pretty much nothing to do with this, other than being someone's punching bag. I hear running's a good option."

The bruises were dark and inflamed. Her one eye was nearly shut from swelling.

"You have a cold pack for that eye?" He'd sported his fair share of shiners. Usually he resorted to a bag of frozen peas.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop this." His thumb circled the bruise on her jaw. "I didn't get your e-mail til this morning. I was bullied into sleeping. Apparently I'm the last to know a lot this morning."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

karanissa
2009-07-02 09:48 pm UTC (link)

Lisa shook her head. "I tried to run, but it's not so easy when the floor's wet and you're wearing high heels. I apologized to her, I told her I didn't want any trouble, I tried to run; none of it helped. The one thing I didn't do was retaliate. I really don't think there was anything I could have done to stop it; she was just determined to beat someone up."

Lisa reached over to the stand next to the bed and picked up a packet. "Leto gave me this to use as a cold pack." The packet appeared to be a bag made of cloth, about a foot long, half a foot wide, and half an inch thick. She pulled the contents halfway out, which consisted of a clear plastic bag filled with a blue gelatinous substance. "I'm supposed to put this in the freezer until it gets cold, then hold it against my eye. It's warmed up now, though; I guess it needs to go back into the freezer for a while."

She looked at Sean with concern. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. I know you try, but you can't be everywhere at once. And you can't just take care of us; you've got to take care of yourself too. Just how long had you gone without sleep before yesterday?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fbiblond
2009-07-03 02:27 am UTC (link)

He winced. "Yeah, but you asked me to be there. So it kinda is my fault that I wasn't. You also likely didn't try smashing a chair over her head because you were afraid of any violent self defence and how it would look, and I gave you reason to."

Sean took the gel pack over to the minibar and moved the ice trays out of the tiny freezer so the pack could go in. His eyes flickered to the little bottles of drinks. Southern comfort, he hadn't had that in ages. He could almost taste the burn in his throat and the warmth settling in his stomach. It'd help him relax.

He closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek. Not an answer, just another failure. "Was up since Graham's body was found, actually. At least forty-eight hours, maybe more since time is all wonky." He paused, the next three words were softly spoken. "Sydney disappeared."

He took his seat by the bed once more. "She was the blind date Molly set me up with for New Years. I checked on her in the triage area, and after the wood that went through her side was removed... but I didn't check on her in her room. I kept putting it off. I've let too many people down, Karen."

And sleep was rarely a respite, but a revisiting of failures. A constant reminder and accusation. Sometimes he saw the broken bodies of murder victims in his sleep, the faces of the ones that died after he was on the killer's trail.

It was why his promise, his vows had to mean something. Because he failed so often. He never promised an absolute, or an empty platitude. If the words 'I promise' or 'I vow' are involved, he'd do it, or try as much as humanly possible.

"So... This woman just seemed to snap? Did she grab for any broken glass, or tableware at any time during the attack?"

Did she show any preference for something sharp to stab or slice with was the real question.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

karanissa
2009-07-03 04:47 am UTC (link)

Sean's attempts to justify blaming himself, his mention of Graham, and his words about Sydney brought Lisa a new insight into Sean's personality. Of course she had known that Sean was very protective of Molly and by extension Molly's friends, including herself, and she had seen Sean taking a leadership role in trying to keep the people on the ship safe, but she had never realized just how deeply Sean felt this stuff. The poor man was keeping unrealistic expectations for himself, holding himself to an unreasonably high standard that no human could possibly meet, and taking all the blame onto himself when he couldn't meet those expectations. Lisa's heart ached in sympathy for him. Sean was taking the weight of the world onto his own shoulders, and he would eventually be crushed by it unless someone stepped in and eased his burden.

Lisa leaned over and took one of Sean's hands in both of hers, fighting not to let the pain the movement caused show on her face. Squeezing his hand, she said "Listen to me, Sean. Nobody can be expected to be awake all the time. After two straight days, you needed that sleep, and if I'd known you'd been awake for so long I'd never have sent that email. I would have insisted you stay in bed. You cannot blame yourself. There's only one person to blame for this, and that's the woman who attacked me. And I'm sorry to hear about your blind date disappearing, but there's no way you can convince me that anything you could have done would have prevented it. I don't pretend to even begin to understand these disappearances, but as far as I know the ship might have magically teleported her home." She paused to let the impact of her words sink in. "We're all only human, Sean, even you. You've got to learn not to blame yourself for things that are out of your control, or you're going to set yourself up for a life of misery, and you deserve so much more. You're one of the bravest, strongest, noblest men I've ever met. You deserve a life of happiness."

He'd called her Karen. It was like music to her ears.

Sean's last question brought her thoughts back to the attack. "Glass, tableware... no, I don't remember her going for anything like that. I remember the rings, though. She was wearing these rings, and it felt like their settings were slicing into me every time she threw a punch. I almost think she was doing that on purpose."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fbiblond
2009-07-03 03:25 pm UTC (link)

Karen was saying pretty much the same thing his parents and Molly had told him. Molly's manipulations to make him have 'fun' were part and parcel of the same thing. He had yet to convince himself that. Her attempt to reassure him could be a carefully designed ploy, but he didn't really believe so. Her sapphire eyes were earnest.

He gave her hand a squeeze back. Hers was so small and delicate in his own. It emphasized her injuries. She was hardly the type anyone but a coward or a bully would pick to wail on.

Unfortunately, a lot of killers were cowards at heart. Why else pick to target a mother with a child, a mother who was also threatening looking. He really had to get Leto's threatening letter.

He was thinking about too many things at once and he had to better organize his thoughts.

"Good observation. Rings made bad brass knuckles, because they push back into the wearer's fingers without a brace bar. But for people who don't mind the pain and just want to damage others... they're easier to conceal as they're in plain sight." So the woman who attacked Lisa wasn't an amateur in a fight. A basically violence prone personality pushed over the edge by the last week? But to blades. Likely not the killer.

He decided he had enough information from Karen. But he wasn't going to run off like the visit was all business. He looked at the seven romance novels and the pile of DVD's on the night stand.

"Just how cruel was she?" He spotted one of the titles, "Don't let HER watch Bambi or the Lion King. She cries herself near sick every single time."

Mel Brooks in spades, Kate and Leopold, Dirty Dancing, Wizard of Oz, Labyrinth, Willow, Phantom of the Opera, Three tapes of Torchwood... poor Karen.

"She means well," he sighed.

Yeah, deflection. He was good with that.

"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

karanissa
2009-07-03 09:33 pm UTC (link)

Karen giggled. "Oh, it's not so bad. Besides, it's the thought that counts. Molly is so sweet. I don't know what I'd do without her." She glanced at the novels and movies, then back at Sean. "So what kind of books and movies do you like? And don't tell me you're always too busy to watch a movie," she grinned.

On a more serious note, Karen asked, "Sean, what's going to happen to the woman who attacked me?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fbiblond
2009-07-03 09:43 pm UTC (link)

Well as long as she was willing to take the change in subject. "Yeah, Molly's great when she takes someone in. It hurts that a lot of her so called friends can't handle her memory problems and mental quirks for long periods." Only one had held on with the tenacity of a sister.

"Oh, I'm an action fan. Lots of explosions and a high body count. James Bond... War movies. Don't tell Molly, but I also like Star Trek. She doesn't need the extra Sci-Fi encouragement." Sean managed a real smile. "I read Koontz, King, Tolkin, Classics. We have different tastes."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

karanissa
2009-07-04 05:28 am UTC (link)

Karen smiled. It was nice having this conversation with Sean. Was this the first time the two of them had really been able to talk one-on-one, with nobody else present and no emergencies going on? She thought that it was. Talk of the attack and all their other problems could wait.

"It sounds like you and I have similar tastes," she commented. "I like action movies too, as long as they have a good plot to go along with the explosions. And Sci-Fi." She laughed. "Maybe that's what's happening to us! We've all been pulled into a bad Sci-Fi movie! Or maybe a Dean Koontz novel." As her laugh subsided, she picked up a bowl that Molly had brought her and extended it to Sean. It was full of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, Hersey Kisses, and other candies. "Would you like some candy? A Kiss, perhaps?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fbiblond
2009-07-04 04:12 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, it was very Sci-Fi. Twilight Zone even. "I half expect Rod Serling to pop up and start narration. And truthfully, I don't think it would phase me. I might even flip him off at this point." Sean shivered. "I'm also half worried the situation might go 'Event Horizon' on us. If it were a Koontz novel there would be a Golden Retriever somewhere."

Karen brought over a bowl of candies. Oh yeah, the movies, books and abundance of chocolate had Molly written all over them. In her words-'chocolate, the orgasm food'.

So it was quite natural when Karen offered him a Kiss, his eyes flicked to her mouth with her soft and very kissable lips. He pulled back a fraction. Whoa! Don't even go there, he mentally slapped himself. Lovely as she was, she was almost young enough to be his daughter, or at least his niece. Plus she was a suspect under arrest.

He was obviously over-stressed.

"More a Reece's kind of guy." He deflected and grabbed one of the small treats from the bowl. He thought of the commercials for the treat. I nibble, by the way. And yeah, I lick the cream out of the Oreos as well. I'm kinda old for it, but I guess there's a kid in everyone."

Sean stood up, a bit uncomfortable. "I know you aren't going anywhere right now. But do you need anyone in here to help you? I can rustle up someone."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

karanissa
2009-07-06 01:32 am UTC (link)

"Doesn't that blind woman have a Golden Retriever for a seeing-eye dog? Or maybe it's a Labrador Retriever; I'm not sure. Anyway, I don't really think the ship is taking us to hell. If it were, I don't think we would have seen all these healings and things being fixed and restocked." She smiled at his deflection regarding the Hershey's Kisses. Nice evasion.

And then Sean stood. Was he going to leave so soon? She'd been dreading this so much, but now she wished he would stay. "I think I'll be OK. But you can't go until you sign my cast." The cast already had Gregory's, Leto's, Chelsea's, and Molly's signatures on it, but there was plenty of room for another.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fbiblond
2009-07-06 07:52 pm UTC (link)

"Seeing-eye dog, but it isn't a retriever." Sean chuckled.

Yea, they were restocked, things were fixed, and people got healed. But others still disappeared. Others, still, were hearing things out of their past, smelling things, the sun... he wasn't convinced the ship was in the same... dimension... plane of existence... reality whatever you called it.

"Sign this thing? Seems I'm gonna get writers cramp from all the casts I've signed in the last few weeks." He winked. "Okay, where's a pen?"

Sean spent a bit of time writing a message before signing his name with a bit of a flourish.

He gave Karen a smirk and headed out the door.

On the cast Sean had written "Step II in live mummification coming in two weeks."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

karanissa
2009-07-06 11:23 pm UTC (link)

Karen gave Sean a smile and a little wave as he headed out the door, then chuckled at the message he had left on the cast. It almost sounded a bit...kinky. She knew the situation they found themselves in had forced Sean to put up a hard exterior, but underneath he was a deeply caring man with a great sense of humor. She hoped he took to heart her advice about not blaming himself.

All in all, the conversation had gone much better than she had feared. It didn't seem to her that Sean felt she was in any way responsible for the fight. Still, she felt like she had a long way to go before he would really trust her again. She was just going to have to earn that trust over time. She also wished she knew more of what was going on in regards to both her confession and this attack. Who had been told about her confession? Had Sean found a safe place for the briefcase of evidence she had turned over to him? Who was the woman who had attacked her, and what would happen to her? The answers to those questions would have to wait, but Karen hated not knowing. She was just going to have to have patience.

(Reply to this) (Parent)