Marius Black (squibbified) wrote in rippledtime_rpg, @ 2015-05-13 13:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | marius black, megan jones |
Who: Marius Black and Megan Jones
What: Giving Dorea a break from her brother, and giving Marius a panic attack
Where: Hospital wing
When: Hare Moon 10
Rating: ... Loooow? Kinda?
Warnings: Mentions of abuse
Status: Completed
Megan and Gawain had both decided that it would be wise to make sure Dorea was eating well and had some time to "herself" to cope with things. This in mind, Megan tossed on a sweater over her dress and headed up with him to the infirmary. She had to get her potions anyways and so it was not like it was out of her way. After Gawain had whisked Dorea away for the moment, Megan sat down in the bed and picked up her potions, looking over at Marius.
"I brought you something." A quiet statement, and she pulled out a bit of paper, setting it on the table between them. She wasn't sure why it had made her think of him, the flower, but it had and she wanted him to have something nice here honestly. She absently uncorked her potions, downing them in a practiced manner as per usual, then tucked her feet up under her to wait her normal time before leaving. Though she would be staying to keep an eye on him until Dorea returned, he did not need to know that.
Marius didn't want to admit as much, but Dorea's departure came as a relief. Either she was fretting, watching him - presumably for some sign that he wasn't alright - or sleeping in a hospital bed next to his. This wasn't the life she had enjoyed over the past several years, she wasn't used to being stuck in the same place for days at a time. Nor should she be. Dorea needed to be out there somewhere, learning something, spending time with Charlus or James or Albus or Lily. Her family. She needed to spend time with Ophelia and whoever else... Gawain. That was his name, wasn't it? Her special someone? Presumably the same someone who had sent her flowers and the sweaters she had knit for him. Marius was used to being alone, and had reassured her that he would be fine, when she left.
He had been relieved until the cocoa girl - Megan - settled into the bed next to his. Couldn't he get a bloody moment on his own to think and figure out how he felt about all of this? True, he'd had two months to adjust to life outside the attic, but he'd had 3 days to get used to the giant space that was the hospital wing, 4 days to get used to Dorea at his side constantly and one day to get used to easy communication with over a hundred people, all of whom thought in such a strange, alien way that Marius didn't know if he would ever be able to identify with them on any meaningful level. He just needed peace and quiet, and now Megan with her gifts...
Not to be rude, Marius picked up the drawing on their table and examined it, fingertips brushing the indentations on the page. "Did you draw this?" Not that it was a masterpiece, but he didn't know what to say. What was the point of drawing him a flower and bringing it to him? She wasn't five years old and he wasn't her father. Was she looking for reassurance? Approval? What the hell did she want from him?
By the time he spoke she had pulled out from her bag a shirt and her needle and thread. It took her a moment to respond, involved as she was in lacing thread through needle. "I drew it. Not usually my type of art but it's a geranium." Her eyes moved to the cloth on her lap, where those same flowers were being worked into the pattern of her shirt, and she began to stitch carefully. Just because she was there to make sure he was okay didn't mean she had to talk much. She imagined if he wanted to talk to her he would, and if not, quiet companionship was fine too.
She ignored the cocoa the elves brought for now. The shirt she was working at was more important and really she was so used to the taste of the potions it hardly bothered her for more than a second. The fact was though that sitting in a room with him, even not talking? It was distracting, and she frowned slightly, counting back stitches in her pattern before continuing on.
Marius didn’t bother nodding; she wasn’t looking at him anyway. Nor was he going to make a comment about the technique or how beautiful it was. Properly speaking, the drawing was rather ordinary. There were about a dozen things he would’ve done differently, had he been the one to draw it. Still, he wasn’t going to crumple it right in front of her, so Marius set it down carefully on the bedsheet, next to his leg, and crossed his arms protectively about himself, expecting another onslaught of questions.
Only, they never came. The girl - Megan - was working on something with flowers on it. He wasn’t sure what it was going to be when it was finished, but she appeared to be sewing, and with great concentration. If she kept going the way she’d started, Marius might actually be in for the peace and quiet he’s been hoping for!
He glanced about the room - still too big, in his opinion - and skipped the window altogether. He missed looking outside, but there was just so much of it, the view so wide that Marius sometimes caught himself thinking he might get sucked right out the window and into the great void beyond, where air ceased to exist. He only took a peek, catching the tops of a few trees before turning onto his side, determined to take a nap.
But he could hear her breathing. She was closer than the other girl had been, the one with the blonde hair all the way at the other end of the room. He’d been aware of her and her airy ways, but mostly ignored her. But Megan… She was right next to him. Behind him, now that his back was turned. Suddenly realizing that she was still there though he couldn’t see her, Marius turned over to face her.
This was even worse. Now, when instead of promptly falling asleep, he opened his eyes, she was the first thing he saw. The sound of her every breath and the susurrus of fabric on fabric were quiet but still deafening compared to the overwhelming quiet of the attic some days. Besides, he didn’t want her watching him sleep while he had his eyes closed. He reached for the book on his bedside table as though that were what he’d meant to do in the first place, without noticing that he’d nudged the drawing off the bed. He’d read. And then she would leave and everything would turn back to ‘normal’.
Megan was quiet for a few more moments before she looked over again, having noted his restlessness. “Do you want me to pour you some cocoa?” Because she was there and she could easily get up and do that before she returned to her sewing. She didn’t want to disturb him from whatever he wanted to do, but she didn’t want to leave him wanting if he needed something. She did notice the picture fell, but didn’t mention it. If he didn’t want it, that was fine. She wasn’t about to force herself on him in that way, it was rude. She could be helpful and not overbearing.
"No, thank you," he murmured to his book, and tried reading the sentence again. And again. Marius was exhausted. It frustrated him, this constant exhaustion. What did he have to be exhausted for? He hadn't left this bed for more than a few minutes at a time in days, hadn't left the previous one in months, and hadn't left the one before that in years. He was better fed now that he's been in half a decade or more. He hadn't been... Visited by his father in months. That had been exhausting. What was his excuse now?
With a frustrated sigh, he closed his book and lay on his back, closed eyes to the ceiling. He could fall asleep so easily, Marius knew. But he could still hear her. He thought he might be able to smell her, a weird thought that made him wholly uncomfortable. It smelled fresh when she was here, a faint scent of flowers and... something else seemed to hang around her. It was distracting. He would have to lie there and wait until she decided to leave. Hopefully, that would happen before Dorea came back.
Megan glanced over again, noting that Marius had closed his eyes now. Hopefully he would rest. He seemed to need it badly, if she were honest, and she hated the thought that he was not getting enough. Why was she so worried about him though? It was more than just the normal worry she felt for people she cared for. She wanted him to be happy, yes. She'd said that. But there was more to it and she didn't want to think of what that meant. She continued to work the material she was holding, stitch by stitch, watching the pattern evolve.
Another glance over and she hissed softly. She had to pay attention! Stabbing herself with her needle was something she hadn't done before now for years! She sucked the tiny bit of blood from the ball of her thumb and set the fabric down for a second, waiting until no more was forthcoming so she did not ruin her work.
Marius had actually drifted off. Not that he noticed until the hissing, when he shot out of bed and onto the one Dorea had vacated not long ago, wide eyes darting over his bed, under and around it in search of the snake. Marius would be the first to admit that he wasn't a clever boy, but he remembered well the last time he'd been bitten by one, quietly released into his room by Cygnus while Marius had been asleep. The bite had been a rude awakening, as had the side-effects; the overwhelming fear had only been the start of it. Heart racing, dizzy and nauseated, he'd been sure he was dying as he fell to his knees, clutching the side of the mattress and his own chest as he tried to breathe. Sweaty and cold, throat closing as his arm had swelled, Marius had wheezed for help and been met with his father's laughter while the snake continued to strike threateningly inches away from his skin. Though Marius couldn't see the snake yet, he could already feel his throat closing in learned response to the fear, to the sound, still frantically searching for its source lest it surprise him by biting him in the face.
Megan had not expected the response to her small sound. She had not expected him to even hear it, she had been sure he was asleep. He clearly was not a sound sleeper, if asleep he had been, and she moved- quickly enough to get to him but slowly enough to not scare him more than he already was. Her voice was soft as she spoke, but firm. “Marius, listen. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s not here. I’m summoning a calming potion. You need to breathe, in and out. Deep breaths now.” She turned for a moment, her wand summoning a small bottle and then getting tucked away again.
“I’m going to step closer. Just close enough that you can take the potion, and then I will step back again. Breathe.” She held out the potion, at arm’s length, waiting for him to take it so she could step back again.
Her voice was distant, barely audible over the racing of his heart and the short, staccato, useless breaths he managed to take, kneeling on the bed and looking over the side like a man peering over the edge of a cliff. Megan barely registered in his thought, except that he wanted to tell her to run, to get out of here before the snake bit her, too, standing there on the floor as though nothing were wrong. Something, some movement out of the corner of his eye had his gaze darting away from her, where he was sure he’d seen it, and he held out his arm in silent warning not to get any closer to it. He’d seen it! He had! He could still hear the hissing as it struck at empty air, his father’s laughter as he choked, strangled, and then stopped breathing altogether, vision dimming until the world was only darkness and a deep, impossible burning in his chest as he struggled for just one last breath. And then, unfortunately, he woke up in the dark a while later, the snake hissing, trapped under his chamber pot. He heard his father’s laughter over Megan’s soft voice telling him to do the impossible. Long past trembling, Marius vibrated, violent tremors shaking him as his vision began to narrow, turning a dark red at the edges. He was going to pass out and then the snake would have him.
Megan could see the trouble he was having in breathing, and her eyes moved around. “Lady Nimue!” She saw the blonde and frowned slightly. “Marius, tell me what is wrong?” She was trying, though she knew that the other woman would have a better time.
Nimue hurried over, noting the scene and shaking her head. She knew from behind was the best way to handle this and so she approached silently, wordlessly casting a calming charm on him and nodding to the other girl.
Megan held out the potion again. “Marius, this is for you. Come. Take it.” Her tone was calm and soothing as she spoke, and she did not move toward him yet. She would allow him to come to her in his time. “I’m here now. You can take this and then whatever you saw, whatever happened… It will be okay. Lady Nimue would not allow you to be harmed in her ward.”
The calming charm had the effect of clearing his mind, allowing bits of reality to seep through almost in slow motion. For the first time since he’d heard the hissing, Marius pulled his gaze away from his bed at the sound of his name, to look instead at Megan and then at the vial. Distantly, he became aware that he was shaking, which could only mean one thing. He took the vial, unstoppered it with difficulty and shot it back, grimacing a moment later at the taste.
If the charm had taken effect quickly, the potion did so powerfully, and Marius needed to lie down, the world spinning as though racing to catch up with the time he’d lost during his panic. He lay down on Dorea’s bed, only to push himself back up blearily and with great difficulty a moment later when he realized that it wasn’t his, the wrong scent of his sister permeating the pillowcase. The other bed was his, Marius knew distantly, and so he rolled out of bed and stumbled drunkenly to his own, one arm out towards Megan for assistance bearing his impossible weight.
Megan watched him take the potion and lie down, then get up again almost immediately. She hurried to help him to the bed, her hands soft as she allowed him to lean into her. She stumbled slightly but caught herself, doing her best to support him to the bed.
"Marius, I'm going to pour you a glass of water. You can rest." Because that was necessary for him right now. "I can tell you a story? Or a lullaby so you can sleep? I'll sit by the bed, or wherever you like." Because she had seen him get upset and she wanted to make sure he was okay.
The world was spinning out of control, his head threatening to float off and away, leaving his body behind. Marius hated the effects of the calming potion, but at least he could breathe again, his back only giving the occasional tremor. He lay on his side, face pressed to his pillow comfortingly. His jaw ached from having kept it clenched, though it couldn’t have been for very long.
“Story,” he whispered, and swallowed thickly as he opened his eyes again to look at her. “Can-” He made a vague gesture with his hand, unsure how to convey what he wanted. In truth, Marius wasn’t sure that he did want it, or would have wanted it in his normal state. Now though, it seemed the only idea that would keep him from being sick. He reached for her hand, fingertips catching on hers, and said, “Head. Going to float away.”
It startled her slightly when he caught her hand, if she were honest. Not in a bad way though, and she nodded. She knew how calming potions could feel sometimes, and so she moved to the bed, sitting at the top and very gently stroking her fingers over his forehead. “A story, yes. Close your eyes and relax, and I’ll tell you one.” She shifted on the bed so that she could move his head onto her lap, offering quiet support as she began to speak, reciting as best she could the story of the Fountain of Fair Fortune.
It wasn’t a perfect retelling - bits were missing and a few details were changed - but the sound of her voice was soothing, as were the familiar story and the soft touch of her fingers. And best of all: no snakes.
Marius was drifting off to sleep again by the end, and breathed, “I love you, Dorea.”