Pippa Montgomery will be the apple of your eye. (modishly) wrote in afreshrpg, |
Pippa heard Dedalus. She heard everything: what he said about Professor Burbage, his apologies. She heard, but she couldn't respond. She knew he was right. Death doesn't answer to humans. He comes when he wants; when he's least expected or forced on people. Pippa admonished her imagination. Her thoughts were fleeting, they slipped through her grasp like fish, but she hated thinking that Professor Burbage had been killed. That made less sense than anything. Why would anyone do that? Another why. She was sick to death of whys. They made it hard for her to breathe and speak or make heads and tails of anything. They were a vicious cycle, and every time she thought she had a grasp on things, they restarted.
When Dedalus wrapped his arms around her, Pippa lost her hold on the last bit of her shields. She knew she was safe with him; that he would help her in whatever way he could. She wanted to reassure him; to tell him that he didn't need to apologise; that she knew there were no answers. But she couldn't. She simply clung to the front of his t-shirt and cried. She didn't know she had so many tears, and she didn't know how long they sat there. She cried herself out, though. She was certain there wasn't enough salt in her system to make more. Once her sobs became small sniffs, Pippa straightened up. She wiped her face with the shoulders of her shirt. It was such a childlike movement, but it worked. "I've stained your shirt," she said, her voice wavered, and the small smile she turned to Dedalus was weak.
Pippa sat back on the bench and rested her head on Dedalus's shoulder. "I know you would answer my questions if you could," she said quietly, "but I also know there are no answers." She thought about that briefly. "Well, there is one question that might have an answer, but we don't know that yet. And they probably won't tell us all the details once they do know that because what if it's really bad? I mean, why are the Aurors involved? If." She stopped suddenly and frowned at a squirrel that stopped on the path in front of their bench. "Maybe I should stop reading crime novels." It was a weak joke, but Pippa desperately wanted to lighten the mood, even though her heart still hurt. She sat up and turned on the bench to face Dedalus, her legs tucked under her. She took his hand and looked into his blue eyes. She saw the sadness in them. "It's okay. I'm okay. Just confused." She searched his face. "Are you okay?"