Queen of the Forsaken (slavetotorment) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-27 12:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, setsuna meioh (sailor pluto), sylvanas windrunner |
But does it serve a purpose?
Who: Sylvanas and Setsuna
What: Bandaging and flower arrangement. Also tea
When: Day after Yumi took Sylvanas shopping
Where: Setsuna's place
Status: complete
Rating: PG
Sylvanas had scribbled down Setsuna’s address, then thrown on simple jeans and a Martyr t-shirt under a leather jacket. Her hair indeed looked ‘fabulous’ as was promised so she looked at herself in the mirror, swapped the jeans for a long leather skirt and the top for something a little fancier, then went in search of her friend.
She found the place and inspected it as she walked up.
Setsuna’s home was a modern designed place, with a little garden she had begun to cultivate already. There were the beginnings of a row of fruit trees, and she was beginning to work on a small koi pond. She liked the simple and plain walls of the place. When Sylvanas began to walk up the walk to the door, Setsuna opened it and smiled. Walkway sensors. The place was top notch for security. She may be out of Japan but no expense was spared keeping her safe.
In her hands were bandages, fresh and white. “Come in.”
It was an interesting place, she decided. It suited Setsuna, and yet it didn't. For some reason the woman made her think she should live in a place that was more traditional. But maybe she shouldn't be surprised. "Thank you. Would you like some help?"
It was slowly becoming more like Setsuna’s place. It would take time, decidedly, but it would be hers eventually. “I would not be abject to it.” she said as she led her into the living room, decorated in reds and deep greens, flower arrangements here and there. She had her med kit out on a bamboo table. She’d already replaced all the floors with tatami mats, even against her father’s protest. The kit was large, and more than someone like her should require. She laid the roll down and smiled. “Sorry, I rather do this here than go to some hospital or doctor’s that i do not know.”
Nodding, she followed her friend. The house was a lot more splendid than the places that Sylvanas was usually used to. "Your injuries are that bad?" She hung her jacket off, and felt the urge to take her shoes off.
“If you wish you can leave your shoes by the door.” Setsuna knew that urge, mostly because she was barefoot and padding back to the table. “I almost died, Sylvanas. I was only able to travel because the worst had healed. I will be fine, now, I just dislike those attending to me that I do not know. “ what she didn’t say was that she didn’t trust doctors because she wasn’t sure if anyone here was on someone’s payroll. “They are mainly sutures to keep protected, and ribs to kept bound in place. Simple, really, just requires care.” she smiled.
Sylvanas took her shoes off, then returned to Setsuna. “I understand. I have a… hard time with hospitals too. Too much time in one.” She took a seat, eyes studying the other woman carefully, trying to pick out the worst of the pain in how she moved.
Setsuna hid the pain well. She had almost no tells. Every now and then though she'd blink a few extra time when she compressed her ribs. "I'm wary. But that is for reasons not of my choosing. "
“Most of the time these things have nothing to do with what you want or what you choose.” Sylvanas’ hands were cool when she pressed them against Setsuna’s ribs, lightly.
"True enough. " the woman actually winced as she pressed her ribs, a breath sucked in sharply between her teeth.
“This one is bad. It’s a miracle you can walk around.” There was respect in her voice. Sylvanas respected strength, and she respected someone who could hide their weakness so very well.
Setsuna shrugged faintly. "It hurts less than the wounds I had. Will you help me wrap them? " She asked before carefully sliding her kimono off. She had a thin camisole on underneath. "I unwrapped myself earlier to bathe and relax but they ache"
“Of course.” Sylvanas wasn’t one to avert her eyes, even if a faint flush was visible on her too-pale skin. She had her own issues to talk about but liked to listen to Setsuna. It was actually a trait she’d developed as a Ranger-general. Before the dreams she’d been a lot more selfish.
"Talk to me and tell me what it is that bothers you. " She said as she handed her the ace bandages and rolled the hem of her shirt up past her bruised and cracked ribs. The bruise was still dark and angry across the left side of her rib cage.
That looked worse than she thought. Sylvanas moved closer and gently started to wrap the bandages around Setsuna, breath warm whenever she had to lean forward to get it around the other side. “Just bad dreams. It’s stupid. But someone said something, and I’ve noticed things...”
She didn't move or flinch. "Tell me of them? "She asked between breaths. It hurt a lot. "Tighter, it does no good loose"
Sylvanas understood pain and torment in a way that few people would. She was gentle, but she had no qualms in it hurting Setsuna. “They start out with me and my sisters. We’re elves, and rangers, and we defend our land. I’m the Ranger-General. Then the scourge came.”
"Interesting. Go on." She spoke softly. Quietly enduring the pain. There was nothing fun about being wrapped with broken ribs.
“Like something out of the walking dead, but worse. Shambling corpses spread by the plague and led by a fallen Paladin of the Light. An army under his command, and that army came to ransack my city.” Bitterness tainted her words and wrapped them with anger.
She listened with a careful ear. “How awful. How dreadful. Please, continue.” she still didn’t move. The only sign of pain was the hitch in her breathing every few seconds.
Sylvanas rested a hand on the small of Setsuna’s back. A light pressure, a gentle rub, a soft acknowledgement that she wasn’t oblivious to pain, then she continued, both story and bandaging. “It all felt so real. The battles I fought. Against trolls, and orcs, and finally these undead. It was the worst war of them all, because for every one of my men and women that fell, the enemy grew. They weren’t mindless, they were directed. His name is Arthas.”
If one word could be filled with all the venom and hate of the world, it was that one name.
“When it was over, he didn’t strike me down. He didn’t grant me a quick death.” Her voice cracked, and shook, and she had to stop what she was doing. “He made it long, and painful, and when he was done with that he twisted and ravaged my soul. And when he was done with that, he brought me back as something twisted, and not alive. I could see, feel, hear and think, but I couldn’t control my own actions. I cut..I cut down so many.”
She wouldn’t cry. She refused to cry, and she hated herself for telling anyone this. She felt laid bare, and Yumi’s insistence that she rely on anyone seemed like a stupid idea.
Setsuna was the bastion of calm and serenity in the moment filled with venom and hate and pain. She laid her hand on Sylvanas’ and smiled gently. “It was your crucible and now you are here, and not there. You can change, be different, grow. Never forget. Never forgive. But don’t linger on the hate, you can have your revenge, your salvation without it.” she tilted her head slowly. “Use it to grow.”
“Oh, I don’t think I can ever forget, or ever forgive.” Lingering on the hate was so delicious though. Sylvanas wiped at her face. “The last thing I dreamed was being free, and finding my body again, and swearing that I would have vengeance.”
Setsuna smiled gently. “There is always a time and a place for vengeance. It will be interesting to see where your dreams lead you next, then. We will see how it goes, perhaps there is more that I can do besides listen sometime.” she said gently.
She looked at Setsuna, wondering if the other woman was hitting on her. She dismissed the idea and resumed wrapping the bandages. “I got my vengeance here, I really didn’t need to reenact those emotions.”
Nah Setsuna was too kind hearted for such things, especially after that kind of admission. She merely meant other things, that hadn’t been spoken about and that she was keeping under wraps for the moment. “Then that’s good.” she smiled and reached out with a long fingered hand to pluck the safety pins off the table to hand to her. “here”
“Thanks.” Whether that was in answer to the pin or to the offer, it wasn’t obvious. Sylvanas secured the wrapping, and sat back. “There. No one should notice.”
“Once under a couple layers no one will notice much of anything.” she said with a smile. “I suppose it is a bonus to my lifestyle, I can wear many layers and hide many things.” her eyes sparkled with mischief.
“That refers to more than clothing, I think. Are there enough layers to accept me if I somehow start to...change?”
Setsuna gave the woman a look. “I have entrusted you with something that could easily turn painful. I have given you the location of my home.” protected as it was…. “I am flexible enough to accommodate those I see as friends. No matter how things change.”
“I could change into that spirit, or the way my body was when I recovered. Alive, yet not.” Truthfully, she worried more about her soul. She’d woken feeling as though there was only anger in her heart.
“Then perhaps having me around will help balance you.” simple as she shrugged. “We shall see what time brings us, my friend.”
“Can I make you some tea?” She asked, thinking it would probably be terrible but she didn’t want Setsuna to get up.
“If you would like to, I would not argue.” she smiled a bit. She’d trained maiko’s to make tea. she could survive whatever this woman could manage. “There is a kettle on the stove already, it should be full of water. Cups are to the left of the stove and the tea is on the counter in a container marked Chai.” she directed with ease. She’d forgo the formal making, and just enjoy easy tea.
“Thanks.” She got up, and strode purposefully into the kitchen to make the tea. She could even pretend that she knew what she was doing, and not poison her friend.
Thankfully she’d directed her to the pre-mixed tea bags so she’d not fear of dying of a bad combo. While she was in the kitchen, Setsuna drew her shirt over the bandages, wincing a smidge as she did so.
As she prepared the tea, Sylvanas mused on Setsuna. She respected her, which was rare enough. She helped her feel more human, and that was something part of her latched on to, even as other parts of her wanted to embrace the darkness as a means to find Arthas and kill him.
Setsuna slipped on her house kimono and settled back on the couch. She picked up a small book and flipped the pages open to the last. Reading the note from her brother before sighing softly and tucking it into the depths of her robe and sighed. Things were never going to be truly safe here. That was alright, she guessed. “You doing alright in there?” she called out softly.
“I haven’t burned myself yet,” she replied, coming out with two cups of tea. She set one in front of Setsuna, and sat across from her. She remembered a time in her youth, seated around a camp fire, sipping tea, eyes faintly glowing blue…
“Well that is always a bonus.” she smiled as she leaned forward neatly to pick up the cup and gently take a sip. “Not bad, thank you.”
They are arrows in the quiver. She wondered if her sisters had been that, as her soldiers had been against the Scourge. She wondered if Setsuna would ultimately be that. “You’re welcome. Do you have plans today?”
“My plans involved resting and relaxing, I’m afraid. I’ve not been up for any jaunts out beyond when we first met.” her tone was kind. “I’ve taxed myself by moving from Japan to here, I suppose I should be more careful.”
“What do you do, when you’re alone?” Sylvanas was curious to know what she did for fun.
“Flower arrangements, calligraphy, music, dance, or reading.” she laughed softly. “I generally do not do a lot of real things, I tend to relax and practice my skills.” and train to klill people. No bigs.
“Those are real things,” she replied. Some part of her responded, wanting to add ‘the things people like me fight and die to let you do’ but that would be weird, as she wasn’t in the army.
“True enough. But they arent;’ fun for most people. What about you?” she asked.
“I don’t have anything fun I do. Not any more. Fun was for when I was a kid. I just… read mostly..” She rubbed the back of her neck.
“Now then, maybe I can teach you a few things. You need a way to relax, besides reading, which is a good hobby. Something to help focus you maybe.” she pushed off the couch, sipping her tea and heading to a vase on the mantle, she picked it up and set it down before her new friend.
“I should learn things to talk to the people at Okugata,” she said, thinking about how to make more money. And feel more useful, and less like she was taking advantage.
“We can certainly work on that, too.” she said with a smile as she plucked the flowers from the vase and laid them neatly on the table. “Flower arranging is actually quite relaxing, and helps you focus.”
“But does it serve a purpose?” She asked, following Setsuna with her eyes. Something that beautiful had to have served a purpose.
“Of course. Ikebana requires you to reflect on your own self while doing it - if you are chaotic, your arrangements will be as such, and reflect into your life more. While recognizing this you can arrange something peaceful to help sooth your soul. The very method of working closely with what nature has provided helps to balance you.” she plucked flowers deftly from the table - a long stemmed Iris was placed into the vase, followed by a sprig of baby’s breath that followed the same curve of the Iris. “To create something beautiful and peaceful, you have to be able to see the beauty in the individual flower, the stem, it’s shape… and color.” she smiled softly. “It is both intricate and simplistic.”
“My arrangements would be pretty terrible,” Sylvanas muttered. She got up and walked over to watch Setsuna. It seemed so easy, what she was doing, and none of it made any sense to the woman.
“I don’t think so. You’d just need to learn to breath and center yourself. Which this helps with.” she looked at Sylvanas then smiled “Find something that would fit this arrangement, in either color or size.” she gestured. There were daisies, small tulips, bamboo shoots with their leaves, a red rose, black eyed susans and so on.
She looked at the flowers, and the table, and the vase, then picked up a tulip and looked at it. She sniffed it, then added it to the vase and looked at Setsuna for approval.
Setsuna reached out and deftly tilted the tulip so it curved the same way as the others, balancing between the two different heights. Then she smiled.
“That almost works,” she said, gently pressing a finger against the vase. It was so beautiful, and part of her wondered when she’d stop seeing things that way.
“Not a bad first pick.” she mused with a warm smile. “We’ll find out your talents here, I think.”
“And this is supposed to center me?”
“It will in time. A true arrangement takes time to finish. You can rework a single one a dozen times before it works correctly. And once you get there, you’ll understand how useful a tool it is.”
“It seems kind of girly,” she admitted, though she was still looking at the flowers thoughtfully. Like perhaps in some small way they could keep her herself, and not have her turn into the banshee.
“Even men practice this, so don’t brush it off so quickly.” she smiled gently at her friend.
“In that case, I will have to learn the aggressive art of flower arrangement,” Sylvanas decided, nodding her head so that her blonde locks bounced on her shoulders.
Setsuna laughed softly. “We’ll get you there.” she smiled a bit before plucking up the rest of the flowers and depositing them into their own vase. She sighed softly. “I hate to ask you to leave but I’m exhausted.” she frowned gently.
“Ah...of course.” She made a note to pick up a vase of her own, and nodded at Setsuna. “I’ll let you rest, then. We should get dinner sometime?”
“I’m truly sorry.” she said honestly, as she smiled. “Dinner would be a lovely excursion.”
“I can pick something up sometime, if you’re not up to going out.” Sylvanas started to move towards where her coat and shoes were.
“That would be lovely, Sylvanas. I would appreciate it and be thankful for it.” not even realizing that there was weight to her friends words. Oh well. She smiled gently. “I am glad you came over.”
“As am I.” She gave Setsuna a slight incline of her head, then pulled on her shoes and coat, and headed out.