Nora Cadwallader (safekeep) wrote in disorderic, @ 2018-04-16 17:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | nora cadwallader, rhys cadwallader |
WHO: What's left of the Cadwallader family
WHAT: A day in Nora's new reality
WHEN: April 16, 2018
WHERE: Baz's house
WARNINGS: Grief
That morning, Nora got out of bed on her own. She took a shower, washed her hair, brushed her teeth. She ate breakfast. She fed the puffs. She responded to condolence hexts and omails and tried to force herself into some kind of routine. She shifted listlessly through her brother's house, but at least she was up and about. It was a mild improvement. The puffs nipped around her ankles, anxious and full of an energy she couldn't quite deal with. She opened the door to let them out to play in the backyard and shuffled back to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Waiting for the kettle was hard. Doing anything at all was hard. There was nothing that didn't remind her of him. She felt his absence everywhere. Today, she would start planning his funeral, because he deserved to be remembered by the people who loved him and whose lives he had touched. They hadn't found his body yet, but Nora couldn't think about that. She knew what it could mean. She'd seen first-hand what they were willing to do to the people they'd already killed, and she couldn't stomach that thought. The kettle squealed. Nora wrapped his sweater tighter around herself and poured the tea. She glanced out the window to check on the puffs. They were gathered close together, yipping and nudging at something even smaller than they were. Something that seemed to be moving. Nora went out into the yard and kneeled by the puffs to see what they were looking at. It was a bird, wobbly and exhausted-looking. She pulled Carrot away. "C'mon, leave the poor thing alone," she said softly, but Pea kept nosing and nudging and humming at it. The bird—a sickly-looking puffin, far from its ocean home—appeared to snap out of its exhaustion momentarily to perk at the sight of Nora. It squawked weakly at her and fluttered its wings before collapsing onto its side. Nora's heart broke for the creature. Had there been a storm? How had it gotten so far off course? She put her mug down in the grass and pulled at Pea just as Carrot struggled out of her grasp and nuzzled at the bird again. "Come on," she said again. "You can't eat a puffin. Carrot!" The puffin flapped once more as though trying to move away from the affectionate puffskein, then suddenly—in a flurry of feathers and confusion—transfigured itself into an equally skinny, sickly-looking—but very much alive—Rhys. He lay there on the ground, scraggly and coughing up a lung, before finally managing a strained, “Nora, is it really you?” The puffskeins bounced on him, humming triumphantly. Nora fell backwards, staring in disbelief at what must be another cruel jab. Her heart pounded and she didn't know what this could be, but it couldn't be Rhys because Rhys was gone and this wasn't fair. This was just mean. "You—you're…" Words spilled out between heavy, confused breaths. "You're dead. You're dead." His eyes widened with horror, and he shook his head. “I’m not dead! I’m here! I’ve been looking for you!” he said, still coughing as he pulled himself up into a seated position and raised his hands as though to assure her he meant no harm. “They tried to kill me, but they didn’t. I’m an Animagus. I got away. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Nora. I’m sorry. I’m not dead. I’m not.” Concern and fear and disbelief mixed across her features, because Nora couldn't let herself believe that, not yet. Not after everything. "But I saw … there was a video. They—" She stopped, suddenly remembering the test they'd made to be sure. "What was—what was the name of the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon?" “Ktima Lemonies. We lazed around near the pool. I got hit on the head with a lemon,” Rhys said without hesitation, though his forehead creased with concern. “It was a very cute place. You can ask me as many questions as you want. I know what this must look like. Stun me if you want. Get help. Do whatever you need to do. All I care is that I’ve found you. I don't even have a wand. They took it from me.” Whatever Nora needed to feel safe, whatever she needed from him in order to prove himself, he would do it. He kept his hands up so that she could see he meant her no harm; his wedding ring still glinted in the sunlight on his ring finger. And then, Nora started to cry again. The overwhelming relief pulled her toward him and then her arms were wrapped around him so tightly that no one could ever take him from her again. Rhys returned her embrace and her tears with his own. He never wanted to let go again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you so much. I was so worried. I tried to warn you. I thought they’d hurt you too. All I could think about was finding you. I don’t even know how many days it’s been. I’ve been flying, looking non-stop.” "It's okay," Nora said quietly, overlapping his apologies with assurances. "It's okay. You're alive. That's all that matters." She pulled back just enough to look at him again, to see that he was really real and really there. "And you're a puffin." Rhys managed to laugh through the tears. “I mean, I know we’d hoped for puffskeins, but close enough.” he said with a chuckle and a sniffle. He reached up to wipe at her eyes despite the fact that his own were still streaming. He couldn’t help but to try to make her smile too, “Was I cute?” You're always cute, Nora couldn't quite say, given the last time she had seen him. Still, she smiled. "I was afraid the puffs were going to eat you." “They wouldn’t eat me—would you do that, Pea and Carrot?” he asked the puffskeins, giving both of them an affectionate, relieved ruffling. They hummed back at him and he wrinkled his nose as though they’d just told him something puzzling. He then turned to Nora. “Did you hear that? They said I tasted like chicken.” Nora snorted out a laugh. "Bad puffskeins," she pretended to scold. And then, as she finally got a real look at him, she asked gently, "Where are you hurt?" He gestured at his ankle, which appeared to stick out at a slightly awkward angle. “They shattered it when they attacked me at Dafydd’s. They tortured me. I think I inhaled a lot of water. I don’t know. I haven’t really eaten in days,” he said quietly, not having really thought much about himself in the days since he’d been looking for Nora. He paused, unsure if he wanted to bring down the mood by bringing it up, though he knew that she needed to know. “It was Clem and Dante Avery. They didn’t even care that I knew who they were because they were going to kill me anyway.” Nora tried not to let her anger or distress show across her face as he spoke. She was furious, but that didn't matter just then. Rhys was more important. "We can worry about them later," she said. "I'll get you fixed up again. I'll call Jeremy. I'm so sorry, Rhys." “Please. Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry they put you through this. I’m just glad you’re safe.” Rhys said quickly, pulling her in again for another hearty, relieved hug. He gave her a mischievous smile. “I’ll race you to the house,” he said, before shifting back into a puffin and flapping his way toward the house with the puffskeins chasing behind him. "That's cheating!" Nora laughed and pushed herself to her feet. She collected her tea and made a half-hearted attempt to beat him toward the house, but he was already nearly there. She stopped in the doorway as the last few minutes and the last few days caught up to her. It still didn't quite feel real. But he was there and he was alive and that was all that mattered. |