Nina Pickering (pissing_jenga) wrote in spinningcompass, @ 2013-02-12 18:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, ~george sands (oe), ~john mitchell (oe) |
Who: Mitchell, Annie, George, Nina & Eve
Where: Their apartment
What: Breakfast time - with a very happy surprise!
When: Friday morning - (Epic backdating to shortly after Annie's arrival)
Rating: H is for Happies
Open: No.
Status: Complete
No, nothing had changed particularly – time had passed, that was all, something that time would continue to do. Add to it routine and it was difficult to stay held in the same place by the events; traumatic and wrenching events that had affected them all recently. Routine was both motivator and distraction, especially when a baby was involved – you didn't have a choice if you were to keep on moving or not; be there random prison kidnappings, dragon-like beasts occupying the city or even the loss of a loved one. Breakfast was one such of those routines, a start to each day, and though she'd not exactly been a morning person previously, it all felt a little different now for Nina. A routine she'd grown fond of. Coffee and tea was set out on the dining room table, a was a little locally grown fruit and some toast – nothing particularly fancy but more than enough all the same – a tropical forest on the Island provided some interesting and exotic fruits, thankfully there were people who knew what they were doing in harvesting them too. If there was any cooked breakfast treats, George tended to handle that. There wasn't quite a full table anymore, breakfast wasn't quite the same ‘family’ affair it had been of days past. Annie was gone and Mitchell was only there irregularly - there was a highchair now set by the table, where Eve sat – able to view, even participate in the goings ons during meal times. There was no particular perfect guide, at least that's what Nina had decided when it came to parenting, she didn't want to be a mother who was ruled entirely by a book, or felt the need to boast endlessly about Eve doing things that almost every child did eventually. The exception being the moment Eve would decide to master 'dada'. Nina entirely sure George ought to have the licence to broadcast it however he liked, as obnoxiously as he liked. Seated at the table Nina was, for the time being ignoring her own plate of toast, attention focused on her daughter. “What do you think, hmm?” Nina danced a spoonful of mashed banana in front of Eve's mouth, whom seemed to have zero interest in testing this new substance on offer, staring at her mother with wide blue eyes as if she were entirely unsure of what was going on, or even she was quite happy with it being presented to her. With breakfast prepared George simply sat on the other side of their daughter. Eve. His two girls. There were only two now. But he didn’t wish to lament on that moment. Not just then not when Nina was trying to feed Eve. Instead he was trying to help. Ignoring his plate of food, eggs toast and a bit of fruit, he instead made faces. Monkey faces to fit the fruit. Of course it wasn’t helping much, as Eve had all eyes on Nina. So instead he dropped the faces. “It’s good, darling, look. Dada will eat some too.” Taking up his spoon George dipped a bit from the mashed banana. And made a show of popping it in his mouth, and just how good it was. Though he wasn’t quite a fan of bananas. He still made the noises and rolled his eyes skyward as if it were the best tasting bit of food he’d had in ages. Then to Nina, once he’d swallowed the bit, he questioned with a smile. “Think she’s buying it?” Did he put on a convincing show? Or was it something that would end up knocked from the spoon and land on the chair before her. “We live… there!” Mitchell said, as he spotted the door to his apartment and pointed into its direction. The silly grin hadn’t worn off yet, the sparkle in his eyes remained. He couldn’t stop looking at her, even though she wasn’t his Annie. He still needed to know that she was there and that she was real. “There’s another one living with us but I can throw her out.” The words sounded as if he was talking about buying a new shirt. But he had always preferred it as it had just been them. No human to spoil his refugee. He liked humans. Life would be boring without them but they could do him the favour and not live in his apartment, especially if he didn’t really know them. They could show off their heartbeat to someone else, make everything just a little less tempting. “And…” he said, leaning against the door as they had finally arrived at the flat. “… you ready? I’m sure they will be thrilled.” He didn’t wait; just winked at her shortly and pushed open the door. “A wonderful morning,” he greeted the other two with a bright cheery grin on his face. “I’ve got a surprise!” He stepped aside to let Annie pass. Annie grinned at him. The enthusiasm that was pouring off him was infectious, and almost overwhelmed her massive nerves at the idea of meeting the others. She’d already decided that however much she might want to she wasn’t going to cry. They had been through losing her, not the other way around, and she knew that it was going to be as weird for them seeing her as it was for her seeing them. “Who else is there?” Annie asked softly, slightly unnerved by the idea of meeting a stranger as of yet, even though she knew she was going to have to eventually. “And you don’t have to throw anyone out, it’s not as if I need to sleep or anything.” She reminded him, wondering just how different this other Annie was. As Mitchell led her into the kitchen, Annie resisted the urge to hide behind him. “Er...hi” Really, being the centre of attention you would think, would be enough to see you at least trusting that this mushy food business was something you wanted to try? In happily handing over the reins, or rather the spoon to George, Nina watched the two as she always did; fondly. In fact it was rather tough not to laugh at George's efforts to convince his young daughter she was missing out on something eye-rollingly delicious. “If it helps, I was convinced.” Nina assured him easily with a smile and a light kiss to his cheek, knowing that George wasn't someone who'd readily devour a banana. But, for his daughter he would and make a fool of himself doing so. Before another not-so-tempting spoonful of the mushy yellow goo could be offered to Eve in hopes her father's contrived enthusiasm would clinch her first taste of real food, Mitchell's voice rang out; entirely cheerful and nearly impossibly happy. It almost didn't sound like Mitchell at all, but it did sound genuine. “Morning-” Nina offered in return to the Vampire, sounding slightly stunned, vaguely confused by his buoyant mood – which in the end was entirely appropriate as he stepped aside to reveal Annie to them, standing there a touch awkwardly, greeting them. Nina's mind jumped instantly to wonder was this merely the other Annie, the one that tended to keep to the Mitchell and Gilbert of her own world – but that, unfamiliar, alternate world Annie certainly didn't make Mitchell smile like that. No, Mitchell's reaction could only mean it was one person. Rather, one Ghost. “Annie-” Apparently the obvious was all Nina could really blurt out in state of awe, though she still rose from her chair slowly. Had Annie not really gone after all? Had she reappeared? George was very close to spooning another bit of mashed banana up, once Nina had handed the spoon over and offered her encouragement, when Mitchell burst through the door. His voice enough to urge him to turn around. It felt like ages since Mitchell was so... Happy. It was an attention getter. His friends face, even before he stepped aside to expose Annie there. It was enough to cause George to abandon the spoon. But seeing Annie standing there? It was as if Mitchell had somehow gone into purgatory and pulled her out again. Mindful of his daughter’s high chair, George pushed his back. He didn’t wait for anyone else to say go. He didn’t give a moment more than the awkward hi. He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around his ghostly friend. It didn’t matter if she was from the train. She was Annie. There was no holding back the tears either. It wasn’t as if he were the sort to do just that anyway. “I missed you so much.” While his voice didn’t squeak it did crack. He knew they all missed her. Even the people she wouldn’t know. George only hoped that they’d find as much excitement in getting to know her again, as he did just then. Mitchell was on the verge of answering Annie’s question but Nina’s and George’s reactions stopped him. Elena wasn’t important, not as important as Annie was. Not as important as George and not even as important as Nina. The vampire leaned against the open door as he watched the three of them reunite. It was almost as if time had turned back and all the horror of the past few weeks had simply been a nightmare. But it hadn’t been like that. Terrible things had happened, things that he had done. “She just arrived here. I ran into her on the streets,” Mitchell commented, making it clear that she wasn’t the one they were all hoping for. But she was still Annie and he wouldn’t let her be taken away from him again. His tone and expression were soft and his heart light, lighter than it had been in weeks. It was as if he could see a light at the end of a tunnel. As cheesy as it may sound. He could endure cheesy for a bit. Annie sank into George’s hug. “Missed you too.” She murmured, hiding her face in his shoulder. He had no idea how much. In her world, he had died in her arms, trusted her to raise his daughter. His reaction was utterly sublime to her, it made him George, real George, not the surly, grieving man she had tried to nurse through losing Nina, and failed. Even in a moment like this, she could hear an old lightness to his voice. He was George from before loss. She had taken in the scene before George had hugged her, and her heart had leapt, this is how things were meant to be, the family together, with her and Mitchell as aunt and uncle, not her alone as a surrogate mother. She turned as Nina spoke, smiling softly. “Hi...it’s me...I promise.” She murmured. Nina was allowed a minute to reflect whilst she watched George embracing Annie without a moments hesitation. Sometimes it was just about accepting how things were in this place, that you never could begin to predict what each day would bring – of course that was true of life in general, but in normal, everyday life you didn't tend to randomly find yourself kidnapped in prison, or waking to the best friend you had thought was gone, returned. – and perhaps this wasn't the 'same' Ghost really they were memories only when it came down to it it; her heart, her warmth were visible at once – among the things that made Annie, Annie. Of the things this place did, bringing Annie back was a blessing. She smiled to Annie with more certainty now, and waited for George to let go, before she moved for a chance to hug her too. “Glad you're here.” She assured warmly, holding her tightly a moment and finding she had to wipe at her eyes when she drew away, there'd most certainly been a painful void left behind in losing her. But Annie here now, and she didn’t want to let silence linger."Good thing Mitchell found you, not everything here is exactly straightforward." No, the city might be plotted out well, but there was much to be said about everything else. "Managed to avoid the dragons, I hope?" she added to both Annie and Mitchell with a wry tone, as if she were commenting on the weather and there being a possibility of rain - not giant flying reptiles. Annie sank into Nina’s hug, she may well not have seen this friend die, but she had still felt the void of her loss. She felt herself cry again, not the rejected sobs of Mitchell telling her she was another version of a dead woman, but the grateful quiet tears of a woman who had just got her best friends back. “Glad to be here.” She said softly. “I literally just got here...there are dragons?” Annie croaked, more than a little worried by the thought of the such a thing, though after everything they’d been through it seemed almost silly to be worried about anything. That and she was so happy right now, she could merrily take on anything any world had to throw at her. Annie’s eyes settled on Eve. “She takes after you George...try peach.” She said softly, not sure what her place was in the life of the little girl she loved so much now that she had her real parents back. George, of course, hovered close by after he’d released Annie. Having, only momentarily, forgotten the task he’d accepted in all the glee in seeing his, their, ghostly friend returned. His eyes danced to Mitchell only to return back to Annie. The thrill of having her was clearly written on his face. Of course then he was reminded of the baby that sat playing idly with the discarded spoon. “Peaches?” He questioned softly. Did they have peaches? Still he moved to retrieve the little blonde babe from her high chair. “Oh darling.” He chided lightly as he noticed the mashed banana had managed to find itself on her front. Still he removed the bib and ran a clean napkin over her bare tummy. “I think there’s someone here that missed you just as much as you missed her.” He informed Eve as if she understood every word. With a gentle nappie check he brought the babbling infant over to the circle. “Aunt Annie. Would you like to hold her?” George offered freely. There weren’t a whole lot of people that he would offer to hold their child. But Annie and Mitchell were two of the handful. Annie smiled gratefully, watching George with his daugher, a brilliant dad, just like she knew he would have been if they hadn’t lost Nina, if their collective world hadn’t disappeared in a fog of guilt and grief. She didn’t think she could get any happier. She had her friends back, Mitchell, while perhaps not in love with her, was close enough to touch, to hug. Annie took the little girl, cuddling her close, some of her fear dissipating as she held the little girl who had become the centre of her ever shrinking world. Even now, so soon she could feel a rush of love replacing her fear. “Hi Eve...I’m very glad to see you with your mum and dad again.” She said softly. Mitchell stuck to watching. His eyes lit as his friends’ smiles grew. This was how it should be… again. It wasn’t perfect and it hurt that they didn’t share all these memories. But it was the best this place had to offer and they were both starved off happiness. They deserved each other, didn’t they? After the struggle they had put up with. She brought out the best in him and she… well, he could make her a little bit more happy, bring back that light and sparkle to her eyes. And then she spoke about Eve being back with her parents and Mitchell’s eyes grew a little bit bigger. Shit! They didn’t know yet and Mitchell had been too preoccupied to warn her. Shit! “Err… so… that’s my room, by the way,” he said, pushing himself off the wall. He spoke a little bit louder than he normally would, hoping that it would capture everyone’s attention. He pointed at his room. “That’s Nina’s and George’s, that’s Eve’s. That’s Elena… that’s the… you know. And that’s the bathroom over there, not that you will need it.” Watching George sort out Eve brought Nina to smile in silence, of all of them, Eve would find it the easiest to adapt. She always did - that’s just how it was, being so little. Annie would be Annie to her and the very same one she missed. The rest of them, it was a little more difficult, a little more complicated. But having Annie back, with them was a start. Nina heard Annie though she wasn't offered a chance to ask what exactly she meant as Mitchell chimed in loudly, though her gaze shifted briefly to George, perhaps now wasn't quite the time anyway. Nina doubted it would help Annie settle in, and perhaps on a subconscious level she didn't want to explore it. She let Mitchell offer the very brief grand tour – there wasn't too much to know really. “..I'm sure we can shuffle things around a bit.” Did Elena necessarily want to stay? It'd sort of just become how things were, hadn’t it? Annie didn't sleep, but she had her room back in Wales. “So you could have your own space.” She moved over to stroke Eve's hair a little, smiling again. “This one could even come in with us for a bit.” Her cot would certainly fit in their room. “I wouldn’t want to put anyone out.” Annie said softly, slightly worried she was going to occupy space that someone needed. She already felt a little like she was, occupying the head space they’d given to her other self. Plus she was fighting every instinct to pull Eve away from Nina, a huge part of her not able to trust what was in front of her, what she’d wanted for months, but never dared to dream of. George, being George, completely missed what Annie had said to Eve. Though part of him knew bad things happened back home. Weren’t they always happening? But he was firm with not wanting to know anything farther than he’d apparently got Nina pregnant. While they had been werewolves. But he was glad to be oblivious to the rest.To offer cheer without knowing why it was needed. “You could bed down with Eve if you’d rather? I mean her room is a bit big for her. And I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sharing.” Not that Annie needed to bed down. But there was definitely room for a big stuffed chair. And George knew there was a bond between them. Already. “I would absolutely love that...and I could help with the night stuff, so you two could get some more sleep.” Annie replied, beaming. She knew the meaning of every sound this little girl made, of every facial expression. In her own world she’d had time to learn them, they had been her focus to stop herself from flying apart. Part of her was trying not to think of where the other Annie spent her nights if she had nowhere to be, either she’d stayed elsewhere, or they’d already thrown her stuff out, which she doubted. “If that’s OK?” Nina still looked suspicious but she looked suspicious half of the time. At least, whenever Mitchell had said something lately. It was as if she suspected him to go on a murderous rampage every second. Jesus, who the fuck did she think he was? “Yeah,” Mitchell said, nodding. “That’s a brilliant idea.” The idea wasn’t brilliant because she could help Nina and George then. No, the brilliance in the idea lay in the fact that it would make sure that Annie would be around. A lot. |