the die has been cast (alea_iacta_est) wrote in 2145ic, @ 2018-05-20 00:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | epiphany, vaughn, vic |
wtf are you doing?
who: epiphany, vaughn & vic
setting: the temple, central park
Epiphany had retreated. After her time with Vaughn, her talk with Samson, and her concern that her flock was upset, she felt like a bloodletting was necessary. She’d even spoken to Samson about even possibly orchestrating a ritual for all of The Temple, though as expected, he’d warned against it. Even so, Epiphany understood that Samson had never truly felt the power and revival that a pure bloodletting gave the followers. Gave her.
In the end, she’d decided against a full ritual for the entire Temple and settled on one for herself alone. It was always such a cathartic process, slicing her skin with her ceremonial dagger and feeling the blood flow from the cuts inner arm down to her fingers, the cuts in her sternum flow down her chest, to create a tiny pool of sticky, thick blood around her. It seeped into her robes, settled into divets on her body from all the many scars and modifications she had, and with every passing minute she felt lighter, closer to transcendence.
Vaughn had spent a few days recovering. Even after he'd slept hard at the Temple, he'd gone home and crashed there too. For a while. Some of it was pure exhaustion, some of it was something Vic had picked up for him. He had no idea what it was but it was in a blue capsule and it left him pretty much comatose for a day and a half. After that he'd gotten back up and started to take steps to feel human again. He bartered for shower time at Cyren, a few of the ladies more than happy to accommodate, and then he'd gotten actual food.
But his obsessive nature kicked back in soon enough, and after doing a few jobs, he found himself at the station. And when the train that went to the Temple pulled up, he got on. Soon, he was there, and people were...less than pleased with his presence. Enough so that shouts were starting to echo in the place, but he wasn't leaving. “If she wants me gone, she can fucking tell me, assholes, now I'm not leaving until that happens. Let go, or I'm gonna rearrange your implants,” he barked at one especially aggressive Temple guard. Or whatever, he had no idea what they were but he seemed like a bouncer to him.
She had been so close to achieving that necessary state to reflect and clear. Just moments away from it when she heard the raised, angry voices. No one had ever interrupted a bloodletting before. She tried to jolt back but her mind felt trapped between reality and ritual. It took Vaughn’s voice bouncing into her sanctuary to finally force her body to move on its own, bloodied hands wrapped around her staff to guide her out into the main room.
Her body moved slowly and with her mind a few steps behind it, so much so that when she came into the hall and she felt the hush fall over her followers, it still took her another full beat to even find words to speak. They were quiet, her energy better suited to keeping her red-stained form upright. “There should be silence during bloodlettings.”
Vaughn stared. Everyone froze it seemed, and his eyes landed on Epiphany, and he saw blood. And he took two steps toward her before he was grabbed by followers, though they didn't say anything and they didn't try to push him back toward the train, they merely barred his approach to her. The others all flooded into the space between them. He would have said something, but she spoke, and he recognized that he'd interrupted something.
He knew fundamentally that she was some godhead for these people. That a whole cult worshiped her. But he wasn't one of them, his worship was a whole other animal. He saw her as a girl who needed to get out of there sometimes. Who needed to feel sun on her face, feel the wind, just not be kept down here like a caged bird. So it was possible he had truly not considered that he might be interrupting something like a religious ceremony.
And jesus christ, that was a lot of blood. Her followers turned toward her and moved to try and help her, silent as she commanded, but trying to get her back to where she needed to be.
There was no getting back to the ritual now. She would have to try again from the start, but she could feel how deep she’d made some of the cuts and the second bloodletting would have to wait. Epiphany leaned into the hands of her followers, allowing them to guide her to the nearest seated surface, and settled onto a kneeling pillow.
Even covered in red, slowly drying blood, she smiled toward her helpers. She needed to assure them that an interrupted bloodletting wasn’t some sort of omen. Though Samson’s words kept coming back to her - The Temple or Vaughn but not both. “Sometimes, rarely but sometimes, rituals need a second chance,” She explained. “We will try again soon.” Then, she turned her head up, just slightly off from the direction where Vaughn was. “I should have explained.”
Vaughn didn't like this. He saw her being helped and he couldn't quite get past just how much fucking blood there was there. And apparently this was a thing here. No one was concerned, or not in the way he figured they should be, not like he was. He was still being held where he was, even if he wasn't resisting. He was officially out of his element, and Vaughn wasn't good with that. He tended to make everything his element in one way or another, or he winged it til he could fake it well enough. This was a whole other thing.
He didn't even know if she was talking to him, but he felt like he should leave. That was warring in his mind with getting her medical attention because why the fuck was there so much blood?
Her followers were murmuring back and forth amongst themselves, sounding oddly melodic with their words he didn't catch. He wasn't even sure it was English. He looked around and saw that people didn't even necessarily look angry at him at this point, they looked anxious and a little devastated. Yeaaah, he for once felt bad about crashing in on something. He took a few steps backward, looking around then back toward Epiphany.
She could hear the sadness in their tones and she hated it. It settled in her stomach like a pit. All she’d ever wanted was to keep them happy and safe, to show them the way. This had been an attempt to reset The Temple, and even that had failed. And it was all centered around Vaughn. Even as she sat there, trying to control her shaking, she wanted to keep Vaughn insulated from any backlash.
When she spoke, it was back to her followers in that same melodic language. A few of them rushed off, the wind from their movement brushing against her hair, and returned moments later with a large bowl of clean, warm water, bandages, and some sort of thick brown salve.
She turned her head up again as they set to work cleaning and dressing her wounds. “It is all right,” She cooed, hopefully in Vaughn’s direction. “You can speak now.”
He was relieved when people showed up to actually tend to her wounds. He didn't know if she was still bleeding but even if she wasn't, that blood soaked into her clothes and rivered down her form was bright red – that shit was fresh. Vaughn had seen more than enough blood in his day, after all. Things got really ugly out there, and he knew when he stumbled on a body how quickly blood turned brown and dark.
He thought she was speaking to him, though he couldn't be sure. And hell if he didn't have a single thing he could dredge up to say. He was reeling, pretty much. So it took him a minute to come up with anything. He noticed that he was let go, and the followers all backed away from him, though they didn't stop watching him, even if he only took steps backward. “Pretty sure our definitions of 'all right' are different, Piph,” he said, voice a little rough. He shook his head, frown on his face. “I didn't know I was... I'm going to leave.” He'd walk the tracks if he had to.
She could hear his voice moving, and not toward her. It hurt her, stuck inside her chest like a stinging insect trapped indoors. It hurt but she tried not to let it show. She’d had such big hopes. She’d let herself get distracted and truly believed that Vaughn would simply drop his life up there and turn to them. That she could bring him into her Temple and hold him dear to her. But he was scared. Or disgusted, she couldn’t quite tell. He wasn’t ready, and maybe he never would be.
But it still hurt. “I should have mentioned I would be in ritual,” She said, tone not truly apologetic but softer, sadder than she’d wanted it to be. “You are welcome to wait for the train. We can arrange a quiet, calm place near the kitchen. I would rather you wait...but you do not have to wait near me if you do not want to.”
Christ this was a hard conversation to have in front of a ton of people who were staring between the two of them. He didn’t even know how to respond just yet. “...I didn’t exactly announce myself,” he pointed out. She couldn’t have told him that she was in a ritual. If she was busy… cutting herself to ribbons, apparently. He reached up and dragged his fingers through his hair, and paced around a short bit, not sure what his next move was. He was freaking out a little. He wanted to talk to his brother. Something. But Vic wasn’t here, and might be off doing porn or something. Who knew. He was quiet for a long moment. “Is there anywhere we could actually talk?” he asked. “Hell, take a ride on the train, leave everyone else here?” He paused, looking at her. “If you can even travel…”
When was the last time she'd taken a ride on the train? Even with all the uncomfortable thoughts in her mind, Epiphany couldn't help but smile at the prospect of just riding the train with him.
Her followers patched her up quickly, efficiently, and by the time she'd finished thinking through her levels of energy, they were done. She spoke softly to them, promising them she would be fine. That Vaughn should be seen as a bodyguard for her, as someone who wanted to keep her safe, and that she needed to take this ride with him. They didn't seem happy but they did help her up and she carefully walked over toward Vaughn. “Let us take a ride on the train. I would like that very much.”
He could see that this was common. No one patched someone up that fast and easily without even the slightest hint of stress that hadn't done this a million times. He nodded, and walked toward the platform, but waited for her to be there with him to do it. He had no idea how long they'd need to wait. The trains down here were so erratic. There was a bench, though, so he sat on that, afraid to touch her, so he didn't, even if his hand hovered at her back a moment. He kept quiet, realizing that they were being watched by everyone. They were all listening, waiting for them to speak. It was creepy as fuck.
Epiphany could hear her followers behind her cleaning up and quietly dispersing, though she knew more than a few of them stuck to the sidelines to watch them while the train arrived. She would have expected nothing less. But she followed along beside Vaughn, using her staff to find the edge of the bench and slowly lowered herself down onto it. When he didn’t speak, she let the silence linger in the air for a few moments. It was hard for her to reconcile just how out of the ordinary this was for Vaughn. Bloodlettings, while less common now, were still frequent enough that The Temple never really batted an eye at them. But perhaps she should have proactively told Vaughn about this. “...I will try to remember to share these circumstances with you in the future, so maybe it will not be such a surprise.”
He only relaxed slightly when they were properly alone. “That was a lot of blood, Piph,” he said first, unable to keep that in. “How much more were you going to lose? How often do you carve yourself up? What can that possibly accomplish?” he rattled off. “That shit is not okay, you realize that, right? Please tell me there is some part of you with a survival instinct.”
Epiphany listened, letting his concerns wash over her. Strangely, while she’d expected to feel as stoic and strong as The Temple’s leader needed to, all she could feel was warmth shining on her. Shifting just to turn her body closer to Vaughn, she laid her staff down by their feet and reached for him. Her hands landed on his neck and his arm and all she could do was smile at him. “You are worried,” She realized.
He definitely wasn’t smiling. “Yes I’m fucking worried, of course I’m worried, how could I not be? It’s insane that none of them are! It’s fucked up that you aren’t!” he said. He’d realized before that she was crazy but this was new levels of it. Her smiling at him like that was a big indicator. “Now answer the questions - what is that supposed to accomplish, how much blood do you shed when you’re doing it, and how often does that shit happen?”
Epiphany had to hold back a happy laugh. He was worried about her. It was sweet in a way that she wasn’t used to experiencing. The only one who worried about her that way was Samson. The others, they were concerned but they entrusted Atia to care for her. She did too, but Atia hadn’t stopped the bleeding. “A bloodletting is a revival ritual. It helps reset the mind and clear the bad energy from our temple. Traditionally, it’s only a few cuts. The ritual is known, but has happened infrequently over the last several years. I have not performed a bloodletting in almost eighteen months, which is why the cuts I administered were deeper than expected. It was an error on my part.”
“Well it's insane, and you shouldn't do that. I can score your people some shit that will make everyone's minds feel real fucking clear without you having to do something that's been out of fashion for centuries,” he added. Vic would probably have a few recommendations and the know how to get it done for him. “Light some candles and incense or some shit, don't cut yourself and bleed everywhere. If people want to feel clearer, they need to do that for themselves, not expect you to put yourself in danger over it. That's bullshit.” By this point he had stood up, and while there wasn't a huge space to occupy, he was walking around with energy fueled by whatever this was. Some mixture of nerves, anger, other shit he didn't pinpoint.
Epiphany continued to just listen, wanting to make sure that he had ample time to speak his truth. Though slowly, her smile faded. He thought she’d done this for The Temple. And on some level, he was right, but that wasn’t the driving factor. She didn’t speak on the drugs he mentioned, not willing to introduce them into her haven even if they might work like he said. Instead she was warring with herself on whether to even speak up about why she’d initiated the ritual in the first place.
After a few long moments of just listening to him pace, she exhaled. “I did not cut to absolve them of their worries or their guilt. I bloodlet to absolve myself of my own.”
“That's not better!” Vaughn said, turning to her. “And what exactly are you feeling that guilty about? What could be going on with you that you'd feel like you had to open up veins?” he asked, trying to understand but he wasn't managing it in the slightest. Mostly he was upset by the whole thing, and he knew he needed to calm down but it was harder than it seemed.
Folding her hands in her lap, Epiphany tried to follow the sound of his voice as it wandered from left to right. She had enough practice with upset followers that she didn’t flinch when his voice escalated, but she did feel her face sadden. So she distracted herself by running her hand over the bandage on her arm, to make sure it was still secure. “You,” She said quietly. “...I felt guilty enough about my choice to place you above my followers that a bloodletting was imperative.”
He stopped pacing, and stared at her. “...so let me get this straight,” he started, processing it all. “You like me, maybe more than your drones, and that had you cutting yourself,” he said. “To cleanse things.” He stared at her longer before finally looking away. “Jesus christ, Crazy, I don't even know where to start with that shit.” He shook his head then looked back at her. “No, fuck that, I do. Don't do that. Bleeding yourself doesn't do anything but hurt you, and having a little fucking fun with someone shouldn't be punished.”
Epiphany liked that he called her Crazy. It felt warm, unlike the tone she’d heard in his voice earlier. She didn’t like that he called The Temple her drones, but she was willing to drop that in favor of the rest of their worries. “I do like you,” She confirmed. “Very much. But I need you to realize that I have a mission to lead my followers toward Atia’s grace. And I worry that you may not fully respect how important that mission is to me.” She let that sentence sit in the air for a moment before adding, “Our rituals have been practiced for generations. They invoke a sense of calm and wellbeing in The Temple, despite how barbaric they may seem.”
“Just because something's ancient doesn't make it okay,” he said. “They also used to burn witches and keep slaves but that shit wasn't right either,” he pointed out. “And they don't 'seem' barbaric, they are barbaric,” he told her. “And yeah, you have a mission, fine. I get that. But who's actually giving a shit about you in all this? And not in that selfish bullshit way that those people back there are, where they only care about what it is you do for them?” He took a step closer to her, looking down at her. “You're a human being, not a god. You have human desires and not everything in your life can be about what a group of sycophants want out of you.”
She couldn’t answer that. The only person who came close to giving a shit about her was Samson, and he didn’t in the way that Vaughn seemed to. Samson would not be happy to know that she had performed the ritual, but she was sure some deeper part of him would understand why she’d felt she needed to. But Vaughn was bringing up points that really no one verbalized to her, because no one in her circle would ever speak so brazenly to her. When she did turn her head up toward his voice, her dark eyes were glassy with tears. “I do not know how to be both a human and a prophet.”
He didn't like seeing her cry, those blind eyes of hers still so alien but beautiful. He was quiet as he forced himself to try and calm down. It semi-worked. He was still being swept along by emotion, but he was less angry, the tears diffusing some of that. “I have a question,” he said, as it formulated in his mind. “How exactly can you guide people if you never have experiences of your own? If you're trapped down here, not even letting yourself have a companion without feeling like you're betraying people? Did you choose to be prophet or were you chosen for the role and shoved into it til you fit?”
She’d never felt trapped down in her haven until now. It was always a place of safety and comfort, of rules she understood and followed, but now she was wondering if she maybe had been wrong more often than she’d been right. The tears fell down her cheeks as she tried to focus her attention on his question. And she realized that she couldn’t actually remember how the decision had been made. The lines were so blurred now that she essentially couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t prophet. “I am unsure,” She answered, her voice shaking with the lack of control she felt in this situation. She was unsure of everything - how she could effectively lead her flock without having experiences that connected with their own, how she had even become prophet of The Temple to begin with. She sniffled and straightened her back, her body falling into a practiced stance of ultra straight posture as her mind warred with itself.
Vaughn crouched down in front of her and reached up to wipe at her tears. He hated seeing her like this. He gave her a minute before he went on. “Look, I'm not trying to bash you, your religion or even your people. Just the methods. People believe all kinds of shit in this world, I don't have any answers myself so whatever I'm not trying to give any. But what I see is a beautiful, sensitive, giving woman who forgot she's got her own life and needs.” He sighed and rubbed his hand over his hair again. “Don't cut yourself, okay? It's dangerous. Not just because you could bleed out but there are infections...” he shook his head. “It's not okay. And you need to take a good look at you, and figure out what you actually want – you, not them.”
She leaned her head into his hand when he wiped at her her tears and it helped her feel stable again. Maybe it wasn’t so much that she had forgotten about her own needs and her own life, but that she wasn’t sure she had ever considered either as options for herself before. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, then nodded. “No more cutting,” She promised. “...But I cannot actually see myself. I haven’t seen myself in...a decade or more.” It was meant to be a slight tease, something to perhaps lighten the mood and keep herself from truly breaking down here. Even if her followers had exited, there were still eyes on them.
He was relieved to hear the promise. That made him feel at least slightly better. He exhaled, then moved to sit next to her again. “Well, maybe it's time to fix that,” he said. Vaughn wasn't a person who typically overthought anything. He was a leap before he looked type, always had been always would be. So when the train pulled into one of the stations where he was supposed to get off, he stood up, grabbed her hand and tried to take her with him.
She felt the motion stop, felt his hand on hers and the gentle tug he gave to get her to stand. When she did, he was already walking and she had to grab onto his arm to keep up, her staff discarded back under her seat. “Where are we going?” She asked, clinging to him as they made a quick exit from the train. She felt the rush of the wind behind her as the train jolted off again, the few remaining followers that had hidden on the train with her stuck behind the closed doors.
“Anywhere,” he answered. He was still working that part out. Step one was just to get her off the train and up to street level. He led her toward the steps. “Okay there's a lot of these,” he said. “Keep holding on.” He kept firm hold of her hand, and started them up. “When's the last time you were up here?” he asked, having no concept of that.
She did trip a few times until she got the rhythm of the stairs, but Epiphany wasn’t exactly athletic. In her sanctuary, there weren’t stairs for her to worry about and she hadn’t realized how thankful she was for that until now. Before they were even halfway up, she was breathing heavy. “Maybe six...months ago…”
He paused where they were, leaning against the railing and keeping her close, arm going around her. He was looking back the way they came, sort of half expecting her followers to be looking for his head and to take her back with them. He recognized that this was probably kidnapping of some degree. “How often do you go up?” he asked, letting her catch her breath. “Where have you been?”
Epiphany melted into him, her head pressed right into his chest as she forced air into her lungs. “Not very often. Lately only a few times a year, to recruit.” Where had she gone? Epiphany tried to remember, but she could only shake her head. “Not far from the station. Usually I just watch the streets from below.”
“Okay,” he said, sort of mentally calculating that. “Want to meet my brother?” he asked. “Go to Central Park?” He had no idea if she'd been there or not. That and he wasn't even sure if she realized there was more than one station. The trains stopped wherever, so there were a few places they could be let out. It was all random except for the private stations.
She was starting to feel strong enough to climb again. Pulling back from him, she nudged him with her arm to let him take the lead again. “I would love to meet your brother, see your home.” Though not truly see but at least be a part of it, feel the energy of it. “Is it far from here?” Her concept of distance and navigation was skewed along with her perception of the trains, because for most of her life Epiphany could instantly flash around the city in a blink of an eye.
They started back up the stairs and Vaughn kept the pace steady, but kept looking over his shoulder. “Well, ‘see’ for a given idea of that,” he said. He didn’t know how many cameras were in Central Park. Definitely not as many as in the city proper. There weren’t places for them. He answered once they got up to the street level and he started in the fastest direction to the park. “Not that far,” he told her. “A few blocks, then we’re inside the park, then a little while on toward the encampment, but it’ll be a nice walk once we’re actually in the park itself. There’ll be shade and trees and shit like that.” Which he liked, despite his unpolished way of talking about them.
Once up on the street level, Epiphany settled closer to Vaughn. The adrenaline pumping through her system was pushing away her exhaustion, but it couldn’t quiet the sounds of the city. Everything was so much louder up here than down below and she always felt as though she needed to scream to ensure she was heard. As they walked, Epiphany finally engaged her vision, seeing flashes of light as it clicked on and connected to the nearest street she was on. It was some sort of modification that Samson had given her, helping her orient herself should she ever be up on the streets. And while she couldn’t see straight ahead of them, she could watch their forms walk together down the street. “We look good together,” She said, voice too loud to be normal for other street-dwellers.
“You don't have to shout...” he said, smirking a little. And he arched a brow as they walked. He got them across an empty street and kept going. “And we do, huh? Watching us?” he asked, even if that was obvious. Of course she was. He found the concept interesting. They were really going to need to get a camera he could use that she could tap into. He had...ideas. Ones that he wasn't going to talk about til he was in the midst of doing them.
“But it is so loud here,” She said, though she did try to quiet her voice a little even though she was positive he wouldn’t be able to hear her. As they moved, her vision followed, always keeping their bodies in her line of sight. She could see the people around them start to react to their presence, and if she thought about it perhaps she was a bit shocking to more traditional citizens of the city. At the very least, her gauze was starting to color from the blood beneath it and her skin, in some parts, was still sporting dried blood. “I do not get to see you very often. I would like to take any chance I have.”
“I know. But I can hear you fine,” he promised her. He kept up the steady pace, only starting to slow down a little to a stroll once they were inside the park. There he had allies. People knew him, liked him and his brother. If anyone came after Piph here, they'd not just have him to deal with. “Good then, because yes. This needs to happen.” Not that he planned on turning the camera on himself for his plans. No, he had other things in mind. “Welcome to Central Park,” he said. “My home. People watch out for each other here.”
There was only one camera left for her to connect to when they walked into the park, and it was hard to decipher through the leaves of the trees so ultimately Epiphany shut her vision down again and just listened. She could hear the rustling of the leaves, the jumbled conversations of slang and terms she didn’t know from people all around. Because she was with Vaughn, she could hear happy greetings from those she assumed were his neighbors and she smiled. “You are beloved here.”
“I wouldn’t go with ‘beloved’, but me ‘n Vic are part of the community here,” he agreed. “This place is kind of all about having each other’s backs, and surviving. It can be really rough, but if anyone tried to come in here and mess with anyone they’d have a hell of a lot more on their hands than whoever they were targeting. So if anyone’s going to try and drag you back before you want to go, I recommend you tell them not to try. It won’t end well.”
Epiphany nodded gently, thinking she should send a message to her followers to let them know that she was fine and safe with Vaughn. She’d never left after a bloodletting so she was sure they were frantic trying to locate her. “Are we close to your home? I’ll send a message to them, let them know not to worry.”
“Getting there,” he said, starting them across a lawn off the path, toward the sea of makeshift living quarters. Tents, shanties, it was a cacophony of odds and ends cobbled together. Not that she could see it. “...okay when we get closer, stay right with me, don't stray.” He put his arm around her firmly and kept her close as they started into the rows. People who didn't live here easily got lost, but he knew his way around very well. Navigation was his thing. Vaughn was never lost.
“There is nowhere else I would rather be,” She promised, leaning into him as they walked. Her adrenaline was slowly dipping and she could feel her energy start to drop a little with the realization that they were in safe grounds within the park. As they walked, she pulled up her comm system and sent out a note to her followers, letting them know that she was fine and that she would return shortly and not to worry. Hopefully they heeded her advice. “It smells nice here,” She remarked, picking up scents from various tents around - mostly food that she’d not smelled in quite some time.
He was glad to hear that. He'd taken her around where there would be the shortest walk to their spot, so it wasn't long before they were there. He smiled at her comment about the smell. Yeah, that was one thing. It was an assault on a lot of senses. incoming, he quickly texted his brother a minute or so before they arrived. “Vic,” he called once he got them inside their enclosure. “This is Epiphany,” he said first, so Vic would be clued in to who exactly they had as a guest. Vaughn didn't generally take his obsessions home. This was a different case, though. By far, on a lot of levels. “Piph, this is Vic, my brother.”
Things Vic had not expected today: a visit from Chase to tell him that they were rolling in credits and a home visit from his brother’s obsession. Things that had happened today: a visit from Chase to tell him they were rolling in credits and a home visit from his brother’s obsession.
Vic had initially intended to sleep away the soreness he felt today, but that wasn’t happening. Between casually apartment hunting after Chase’s visit and now this new arrival, he was sure he wouldn’t be sleeping for a while. “Uh…” Vic said eloquently, positively staring at Epiphany clinging to his brother. She looked...she looked like nothing he’d ever seen before. A frail, skinny thing wrapped up in Vaughn’s arms, covered in tattoos and markings and blood. And her eyes were so strange that not even Vaughn’s descriptions of her could really encompass this girl. “Hey?” He said, wishing it sounded more solid than it did.
Epiphany could feel the energy in the room, but she couldn’t see Vic. She heard the confusion in his voice, felt the spark of discomfort around him, and tried for a soft smile. “Hello,” She greeted. “I apologize for arriving unannounced, but appreciate your kind welcome.”
“It’s fine, Piph,” he said to Epiphany, giving her a little squeeze. He led her to his sort of chair, which was in better repair than Vic’s beanbag chair but not by much. They didn’t have a lot of space, but it was home. “You can sit here,” he said, and he sat down on the ground next to her, so she didn’t feel at sea here. “So, yeah. Not used to introducing people like this,” he admitted. “Brother, ….friend,” he said because he had zero idea on how to actually assess he and Piph’s relationship.
While Vaughn helped settle Epiphany, Vic shot a message back to his brother. He didn’t do that, use his comm system when people were around, but he didn’t need this one to hear what he had to ask. Is it though? What the hell happened to her?
Epiphany settled happily into the chair, letting its size envelop her. Once she was seated, she could feel another good chunk of her adrenaline leave her. Reaching out for Vaughn, she found his shoulder and rested her hand there, needing the contact to stay grounded. “Dear friend,” She confirmed. “Your brother is special,” She told Vic. “Full of all the makings of an entire universe just within him.”
A universe of Vaughn? Vic asked, grinning a little at his brother.
Got anything to speed up healing lacerations? And I’ll tell you the whole thing later suffice to say her religion requires some barbaric shit I’m going to talk her the fuck out of, he shot back at his brother. Also shut up. She talks like that. He was glad Piph couldn’t see him blushing. “She sees a lot in people,” he said out loud, embarrassed, which was really hard to do for someone like him.
I can find something. Is that all you need? She kind of looks like she’s ready to pass out.. Does she need food or anything? Although Vic definitely didn’t want a crazy, barbaric cult to come hunting them down for letting their prophet die, mostly he cared about Vaughn. This girl was important to his brother so the last thing he wanted was for her to wither away in their tent.
“It is easy to see someone as clear as you,” Epiphany answered Vaughn, smiling again as she squeezed his shoulder. And as Vic watched, all of that immediate reaction he had toward the girl melted. He knew his brother could get obsessed and in the past those obsessions hadn’t really panned out, but here was this one settled beside him and smiling despite the fact that she looked half-dead. “I can see why he likes you,” Vic answered honestly, even if it was meant as a tease at Vaughn too.
Food yes, what have we even got? He wasn't sure at this point, and they were always bartering with their neighbors for different things. He had no idea what might have been bartered off lately. When Piph spoke, he looked at her and smiled a little. Yeah, she said weird shit, but he liked that about her. He glanced over to Vic, making a face but there was a soft edge to it. Yeah, he really liked this one. In far more than the usual obsessive way he had. “Because she's amazing,” he answered aloud. “Want anything, Piph? You have to be hungry. Or tired. You want to lie down?”
Epiphany wanted to be a good guest and ask Vic many questions, but the idea of resting sounded so appealing that it was hard to think through to something else. Food and sleep was all she could hone in on. “If there is food, it might be helpful to eat and then sleep.”
Vic forced himself up, trying to hide the wince. He knew his brother was used to seeing him wince, but it was typically because he was favoring his leg and not because his ass hurt. “We’ve got some cheese, some cured meat, bartered for those with Sully. I think we still have some fruit around here too.”
Vaughn arched a brow, but didn’t say anything. He was torn between helping his brother and being there for Piph to lean on. She was blind here, he didn’t want to leave her in the dark. Vic was already up too. “An apple?” he suggested, not sure if they had one. “And the cheese is good too,” he added, realizing that this might have been a shit idea. Because now Piph was going to know beyond the shadow of a doubt how poor he was. How little he had. What, seven-ish square feet of space, a hammock, and food that they weren’t even sure they had? Yeah.
But Epiphany didn’t really think too much on that. Food was an interesting aspect of their lives in The Temple, so the concept that there was some food but not a full feast worth in Vaughn’s home didn’t even really pass her mind. “I have not had cheese in too long,” She answered. “And apples are my favorite fruit.”
Vic shot his brother a look back, trying to get him to ignore the issue of his wince, and started toward the little airtight box where they kept their food. “You’re in luck. We’ve got both. Why don’t get get you on the bed and I’ll cut up some food and bring it to you?” He suggested, looking at Vaughn instead of her.
And I’ve got some aid coming for her cuts. Salve and pills. You apply the salve twice a day, she takes the pills at the same time. She’ll be good in three days tops.
Vic and Vaughn had their silent communication down pat, even without messages from the implants. They’d spent a ton of their childhood keeping their mouths shut while communicating just fine. So he caught it and gave him a look back that indicated they’d talk about it later. And when he added the part about the salve and pills, he looked truly relieved. Not much worried Vaughn, but seeing Piph like that did. He got to his feet. “C’mon, Piph, this way,” he said as Vic got her food. He brought her over to his hammock. “Right here,” he said, guiding her onto it, holding the thing steady so she wouldn’t fall.
Epiphany moved with Vaughn’s help, thankful for his gentle guidance. When she settled on the hammock, she smiled. She’d never slept in something like this, something suspended. She’d never even really seen something like this. “What is this?” She asked, hands reaching out to trail the sides of the hammock. She could hear Vic cutting up the food but kept her focus on this strange bed.
“A hammock,” he said. They couldn’t afford real beds, and hey, being off the ground was good when you didn’t have a proper floor. “So be careful, don’t swing too much, but yeah. It’ll be comfortable for you,” he assured her. “Lie back,” he invited, keeping good hold of her.
Epiphany held Vaughn’s arm all the way down until she settled on her side on the hammock. It swung a little but because he still held it, not enough for her to feel nauseous by the movement. The only bad part about this hammock was that it didn’t feel big enough for more than just herself. “Can you join me?”
She heard Vic come over to their side and hold a small bowl out to Vaughn with the food in it. For now, he’d make himself as scarce as he could in their small area, and headed outside to wait for her medicine in a well-worn folding chair they had by the entrance of their tent.
“Not enough room, Crazy,” he told her with a warmth to his tone. “Don’t worry about it. Just have a little to eat,” he held her the bowl he took from Vic with a nod of thanks. “And get some sleep. I’ll be here, okay?” he promised. But yeah she’d bled herself today, she needed the food and rest.
She found the bowl and let it settled by her chest as she reached to start slowly eating bits of the food. She did reach for Vaughn’s hand again and pulled it closer, up to her mouth, to press a kiss on his knuckles. “Thank you,” She said, before gently releasing to finish eating before sleep found her.