InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Fresh Blood - GAME ON!"

J'aime Everleigh Cavanaugh | Meg Giry (ex_peepshows656) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-03-29 09:54:00

Entry tags:

beauty, cheshire cat, meg giry

Who: James & Rick; later Ella recuperating in 501.
What: Freakout.
Where: The sixth floor hallway, outside of #601.
When: Immediately after running from Shane's.
Warnings: None.

It was too much. James spilled into the hallway on the serrated edge of a frustrated cry, and the door to Shane's apartment swung mostly closed behind her. Of course, it had been all well and good in theory to go check on Shane.. but then..

She'd read about him being a wolf, but that was a very different thing than seeing the wolf, and the others talking to him and calling him Shane, and then the animated vines and- James had to take a deep, steadying breath. Her eyes were wet, and she rubbed the sleeve of her sweatshirt under sooty line of her damp lashes. She wished she was just losing her mind, it would be so much more comfortable to explain.

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bookshelved
2010-03-31 12:10 am UTC (link)

All the movement and words between the living room and the bathroom were lost of pinpricks of light at the edge of her vision. The sound of the water running, however, brought her back to the moment, and she shot them bot a thankful (if embarrassed look). "I'll clean up," she said, stars fading from her vision. She would be fine if she could just be alone a minute, if she could just collect her thoughts. "Please, just bring me something to wear?" she asked James as Rick left the bathroom. "We need to go check on the others," she added to James, and she tried to smile serenely. See? I'm fine. Nothing to worry about.

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ex_peepshows656
2010-03-31 02:27 am UTC (link)

"Bullshit," she replied under the guise of cool amusement when Ella gave her that steady smile that said she was all better and doing just fine. James leaned against the bathroom door, easing it shut for the illusion of privacy although she knew that Rick had headed back to his apartment for the moment.

"I'll bring you something to wear after you're safely seated in the water. If I walk outta here, and you fall, and you break your pretty head on my pretty floor --" In vague illustration, she ran the edge of her bare foot across a line of those white, octagon tiles beneath her. "Well, Rick just won't forgive me.. and then I'll never get my nursing girlscout merit badge, so.." James drew an inward sigh that said this was the final word on the matter.

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bookshelved
2010-03-31 02:54 am UTC (link)

The entire speech reminded Ella of how completely competent James was, and even in this state it made her want to be equally strong. She stood, just to prove her footing was completely steady, and she slipped off the pajama pants she'd been wearing. "I'm fine, you see? Please, I promise not to put your badge in harm's way," she assured, hand on the wall staining it red with blood, even as it held her steady and upright.

Her eyes were pleading, and she dipped one toe in the water, then the next, and she waited for the door to close before removing the bloodied camisole.

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ex_peepshows656
2010-03-31 06:09 pm UTC (link)

In the end, it was the wordless pleading in Ella's eyes that had James slipping out the door with a discreet smile. It was a carefully crafted expression, seemingly soft and pleased with the other woman's almost steady footing.

With the door closed after her, James hesitated in the hallway for a brief moment. Her smile dissolved under a worry she only showed when there was no one to see it - or like in the night of the alley, a worry that was only shown because she was too separate from herself to even know it was there. She listened to the sounds of water from the other side before wandering off to the kitchen to rinse the blood from her own hands.

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bookshelved
2010-03-31 06:18 pm UTC (link)

It didn't occur to Ella to worry about the blood, about any illnesses it might carry; she wasn't that cognizant. She was, more-or-less, running on auto-pilot as she stepped into the tub completely and let the remainder of her bloodied clothes fall to the tub's tile floor. She switched the water stream from the tub and kicked the stopper free as the water at her feet turned a watery, sickly red.

The water spray was hot and strong, and she let herself get the remaining panic out of her system as she stood beneath it. She didn't sob or cry loudly enough for James to hear, but her breath was a series of shallow, slow, hitched things comprised of pent up fear. Vines locked themselves around the door handle, offering privacy she didn't even realize she needed, and she let the water run over her again and again. She needed to get it out of her system, to steadily rebuild her walls. She didn't usually fall apart like this; it was a new thing, new since Beauty and the change, and she didn't like the vulnerability.

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takingsides
2010-04-01 02:24 am UTC (link)

Rick came in through the door with enough noise to alert those in the house he was present, and to further precede his appearance, he was humming out loud under his breath. It sounded both Southern and seriously out of character, but at least it wasn't too loud. It trailed off as he came through the living room, and between kitchen and hallway he looked back at James and tipped his head toward the bathroom. "You sure she's alright in there? If she passes out and I have to break down the door, I'm not paying the bill."

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ex_peepshows656
2010-04-01 04:50 am UTC (link)

"She wanted to be alone, Rick," James replied coolly without looking up from the kitchen sink. She was still running soap over her hands and rinsing the last of the red from them. James leaned into the sink, to rinse a bit of soap and water over the freshly bloodied spots of her tank top. The shadowy depth of her blue eyes lifted to him, and the expression tilted.

"What did you want me to do, tell her no?"

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takingsides
2010-04-01 09:31 pm UTC (link)

Rick intended the smile to placate, judging from the size of it, but it grew until it was something obscure and teasing before he turned away and moved down the hall to listen at the door. After a moment he came back, pushed the first aid kit to one side on the counter, and leaned in to watch what James was doing. "She's moving around in there," he said, if or when she looked up. "Her pulse was good so I'm not too worried." He waited another moment of silence as she scrubbed, and then he said, "Maybe you should--" he was cut off by the sound of the door opening and Ella returning to the hallway. He stood upright again and frowned a little. "Did you want to do something about those hands?" he asked her, glancing down at her wounds and trying to avoid looking at James in silent apprehension.

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bookshelved
2010-04-01 10:33 pm UTC (link)

The calm she showed him was a forced thing, and she carefully kept from plucking at the borrowed flannel pants or hoodie as she smiled at him, then at James. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the shower, her long hair clinging damply to her cheeks. The sleeves covered the damage on her arms and shoulders, and she kept her hands tucked into the ends. She could only feel the slightest trickle of blood between her fingers as she gave them both a very thankful look, keeping her expression as serene as she possibly could.

"I make tinctures and healing salves in my apartment," she explained, proud of how steady her voice sounded. "I will take care of it once I get upstairs," she said. "I just- I'd like to be alone," she explained honestly, with only the slightest tilt of her chin. "With a cup of tea and my thoughts." She didn't add that she was so very scared, because it was utterly ridiculous. The vines were gone, after all, and there was no wolf, and no one had died. Why was she still feeling completely vulnerable and bare?

She didn't give them a chance to protest as she turned for the door. "I'll bring your things back tomorrow, James?" she asked, but she immediately slipped into the hall without waiting for an answer. Once there, she leaned against the wall, and she closed her eyes, the soft scent of roses surrounding her.

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ex_peepshows656
2010-04-01 11:07 pm UTC (link)

James didn't buy any of Ella's serenity, it seemed about as borrowed as the clothes that now covered her. But still, James didn't say anything or move to stop the woman from leaving her apartment. Ella had survived other things than this, and maybe being alone was what it took to keep everything together. Even if Ella was unable to recognize it in this moment, James knew her to be nothing but a strong woman, one fully capable of handling the aftermath of wolves or vines or angry mobsters.

She nodded with the revival of her most believable smile when Ella mentioned bringing her things back tomorrow. "No rush, I--" But the words slipped into nothingness as Ella was already out the door before James could say any more.

Drawing a thin breath, she turned her attention to Rick. There was no longer a need for the bright, confident eyes or everything's okay smile, and both features dissolved slowly. They were not replaced with panic or worry, just a tense impatience.

"What happened? To the others, I mean?" She had not a single clue what had gone on inside 601 after she'd fled. James hadn't been about to ask Ella, either.

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takingsides
2010-04-02 12:17 am UTC (link)

Rick took his time filling the space the woman had left. He had doubts about Ella but also problems with the idea of calling excessive attention to himself in a professional way. If he thought she was seriously in danger, he would have called. Probably.

Rick stared across the counter with his strange blue eyes for a moment. Strange, they had a funny green to them they hadn't before. Unless there was something about the light here... yes, perhaps that was it. It was an assessing gaze as he tried to decide what to tell her and how. He said, "One man on the ground with a pretty serious legwound. Seemed like the doctor had it in hand." He was leaving out descriptions, male, white, early thirties, male, white, late twenties, approximately one-hundred-eighty pounds... "There was another man and woman assisting. The man came from the stairs with me, the woman seemed unhurt." He paused. "And Shane, of course. Unconscious, superficial wounds."

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ex_peepshows656
2010-04-02 12:28 am UTC (link)

Her eyes strayed to the front door in idle thought, although she was listening with a quiet severity to everything Rick said. James silently reaffirmed that Ella would be fine - she hadn't seemed like she'd needed stitches, and Rick or that doctor would have surely stopped her if they'd suspected anything serious.

"Shane was unconscious?" A frown fell into place as she glanced back to Rick. "He wasn't all..?" James lifted her hands with a brief tick of fingers on either side of her head in a demonstration of wolf ears.

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takingsides
2010-04-02 08:14 pm UTC (link)

Rick shook his head slowly. "More like a jaybird than a wolf. Not a stitch on him. I figure he changed back." He would have laughed, were it not for all the blood and the injuries, but there was still a glint of that strange humor in his eyes. He packed up the kit so it was easily portable again, and stepped back from the counter with it in his hand. He stopped and gave her a peculiar look. "I was going to say--you'd be better off just throwing that shirt away. Blood doesn't come out." He stepped around toward the door.

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	ex_peepshows656 2010-04-03 05:20 pm UTC (link)
	Rick earned a strange look from her. The humor that radiated from his eyes didn't seem out of place, but somehow different than the way she knew him. Her brows knit and attention followed him toward the door, but James couldn't place what felt off about it. When he mentioned her shirt, she glanced down reflexively. "I suppose you're right." (Reply to this) (Parent)

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