MY EMOTIONS. (allegs) wrote in invol_rpg, @ 2013-01-05 14:42:00 |
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METTE: She’d considered putting them off until morning, waving off visitors for another few hours – but tomorrow they would all start migrating back towards the school, or so she’d been told. And there was nothing actually wrong with her: no injuries that needed healing, no wounds to patch up. (No shivering, burning illness like the one reported with the American rescues – not that she knew that.) It was all mental. Psychological. A long while after Moa left, Mette opened the door once more and poked her head through to look at her IVF guard. It was a strange relief having him there. For once, she didn’t feel as if she were under lock and key or being watched by a baleful gaoler. No, he was legitimately there for her own protection, and she was grateful. “Has anyone been asking for me?” You could check your phone, the man almost said, but bit it back at the last second. Reined himself in. Tried to remember his lessons on tact and dealing with shellshocked soldiers, inasmuch as it applied here. “Yes. Your teammates especially. There are a few of them here and they’ve been asking about you. You don’t have to see them if you don’t want to, though.” Mette was nodding vaguely, running through their faces in her mind and wondering who would be in Europe – she knew she’d seen Santiago at the rescue, at least. Her teammates. Not her best friends, not her closest, but the people she’d indisputably spent the most time with at IVI. Three hours every day and more besides. If there was any group she could handle right now, it would be the Roosters. “Okay,” she said. “Go get them.” ALLEGRA: Can I see her yet? The question had passed Allegra's lips so many times at she could feel second-hand impatience bubbling up as she approached an IVF staff member for what must have been the hundredth time. She'd watched the youtube clip again and again, trying to decide whether she believed it or not -- torn between the conflicting emotions of anger at what was happening on the tiny screen or relief that it was proof Mette was still alive. So why did worry linger in the back of her mind? Why did she feel the need to see her with her own eyes, assess her emotions, hug her to show her how relieved she was that she didn't have to lose a friend? "She's asking for you," they interjected before she even had a chance to open her mouth, refraining from sighing a little. Yet, now that the moment had finally come, Allegra was tentative at best. Even as she stood in front of Mette's door with the rest of Roosters who had opted to help at the Europe safe house. She pushed this unbidden hesitation aside, though, and pushed open the door. METTE: She jerked when the door opened by itself (clang and bang but this wasn’t an imposing metal door with iron rivets). But upon seeing the familiar faces in the doorway, a small and cautious smile fluttered across Mette’s face. The girl had instinctively leapt to her feet from the bed, hands nervously twined in front of her. “Um... hi.” SANTIAGO: “Hi!” Santiago called from the back, beaming at Mette and waving his hand at her over the heads of the other Roosters. It blurred too much to be normal, eagerness getting the better of him and power unintentionally kicking. This did not go unnoticed by the youngest Rooster who frowned at his hand as if it betrayed him and tucked it away into his back pocket. “I am glad you are...” Okay? Was Mette okay? She had just been kidnapped not too long ago, kept for days in a small room with other kidnapped IVI Vols before getting caught in a firefight between kidnappers and IVF guards. And in between apparently had her power taken from her. “.. away from those people!” Is what Santiago said eventually, the words all but tumbling out of his mouth to make up for his brief pause. METTE: “Thanks. Me too.” Something about Santiago’s blithe cheerfulness, his open-hearted lack of guile, made the unthinkable happen: her smile broadened with the sheer giddy relief of still being alive, of being here to see them again, and to see the so-called baby of the team grinning at her. Mette had feared people tiptoeing around her and treating her like fragile china – which was exactly what she didn’t want. But as they crowded in, her gaze ran over the rest: Sara, Enver, Dani. “No one was hurt during the operation, were they?” There was an edge to her voice, a bristling worry. Enough people had been hurt already. SARA: "Oh, Mette!" Days had passed since Sara's own rescue. She had volunteered to come to Europe, because that was the helpful course of action, and she had always been taught to be helpful. Even when, like now, she felt she had no energy to be. 'Coffee? Tea? Coffee? Tea?' It had been an endless chant over the past week, alternating between pressing a button on the machine they called a "Keyrug" and the tea bags she was already quite familiar with. 'Coffee? Tea?' It kept her distracted, her worry at bay. Not just worry about her friends, either. Worry about herself - the fact that she was finding it difficult to feel much at all. "I am so glad you are okay." ENVER: Hanging back behind his teammates and friends, Enver kept his hands clasped together, if only to restrain himself. After what they'd all been through, it was such a relief to have Mette back safe and sound that all he really wanted to do was reach out and hug her. It was almost second nature for him, a physical display of affection that meant that everything would be okay. But the idea that she might still be hurt, that he'd only make it worse, kept him behind the others, hesitant and awkward. "We could get you food? Are you hungry?" He suggested, finally speaking up after Sara's offer. Food always made him feel better, at least. DANI: Dani, too, was a little unsure of how to act. What did you say to someone? She felt as though treading carefully would be bad too, and she wanted anything that she said or did to be as genuine as possible. She hung back a little, listening to the others greeting their friend, wary as she tried to think what would be the best way to greet someone who’d been through what Mette had. Dani knew she couldn’t understand completely, although she tried. "It's really good to see you," she told Mette, the words honest. "Glad you're safe," she settled upon with a soft but concerned smile. METTE: Not like she could tell the difference, were Dani to choose to be dishonest, but it didn’t even occur to Mette to doubt them. She simply shook her head in response to Enver’s question. “I just ate with Moa. Thank you, though.” The girl was starting to look antsy and fidgety, like a spooked foal – they were presumably all earnest, all completely heartbreakingly genuine in their well-wishes and relief and happiness, but she couldn’t feel it. But the girl kept her smile in place, not dipping at the edges. “Can we sit down? I feel, like... weird. Being on display like this.” Her skin crawled upon having all of their attention directed so wholly upon her: uncomfortable with being the center of attention, the nexus of all the Roosters’ well-intentioned sympathy and concern. The moment they all sat down, however, taking seats around the small room – three on the bed, one at the desk, two on the floor – then it was like a bubble of tension had been popped. They were finally able to talk, to chat, to catch up, and feel the anxiety slowly ebb away and out the door. “So tell me some fun stories,” Mette said, and they did. The girl still looked strained, her face pale, her knees drawn, but her shoulders lowered and by the end of it, she seemed to breathe easier and relax with others doing the lion’s share of the talking. She was content to listen. |