Annie Cresta is one with the waves (lifeisastorm) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-08-14 16:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, annie cresta, caroline forbes |
Who: Annie Cresta and Caroline Forbes
What: Laundry room conversations
When: Recently
Where: The laundry room
Warnings: Talk of torture, rape, captivity
Status: Log | Complete
One of the things Annie had figured out early on after moving to Orange County was the best time to go to the laundry room that minimized any risk of running into people. Yes, there would always be that potential, but she still had it figured out when she was the most likely one to be the only one doing laundry at any given time. She might be better when it came to interacting and not nearly as skittish as she once had been, but that didn’t really change the fact that she preferred doing her laundry with little distraction.
Especially as she tended to work on jewellry while waiting. Sometimes it was actual construction and mock ups. Other times, like today, it was just sketching and design, sitting on the folding table in the middle of the laundry room as she tended to do in these situations, back to the door.
It was also summer, which meant that an already hot room was even worse, which was why she was currently in a camisole style top and shorts, her hair pull up off her neck. She had a shrug beside her in case anyone came in so she could quickly cover the brands on her back, as well as the scars on her wrists. Which really was all the more reason to keep tabs on when she was less likely to be interrupted. Less chance of the looks she’d undoubtedly get, even if nothing was questioned. She didn’t have the energy for it, especially this time of year when she struggled just that much more not to become overwhelmed.
Working at a bakery Caroline was used to getting up early. Even on her days off, Like today. Her boyfriend also working at a bakery had him out of the apartment already. It was the perfect time to wash the sheets. Caroline stripped the bed and headed down to the laundry room.
When she entered she spotted Annie sitting at the table drawing. Probably working on some designs. “Hey,” Caroline said with a nod setting her laundry basket down for a moment while she got the machine ready. Which basically just meant opening it and putting in soap.
And of course she was so caught up in her sketching that she hadn’t heard when the door opened and jumped when Caroline spoke up, quickly grabbing the shrug to put on and hide the brands and scars. That was why she had it there after all, even if it would be uncomfortable now in terms of temperature. And the fact that they hadn’t really seen one another since the whole compulsion issue which….still made her uncomfortable.
“Hey…”
Well, she would have to shift her position on the laundry table now in case Caroline ended up sticking around and wanted to put the laundry basket on it. At least she didn’t take up all that much space.
Of course Caroline noticed how fast Annie put on the shrug. And wasn’t it a little hot for that? It was summer time after all and this room was always extremely hot. She hadn’t seen the brands or scars when she first walked in, preoccupied with her laundry. But now her interest was definitely piqued.
“Aren’t you hot?” Caroline asked lifting the laundry basket up and setting it on the machine next to hers instead of the table. She didn’t want to disturb Annie’s work. She tossed the sheets in starting the load.
And now she was stuck. Because she didn’t lie. But she also really didn’t want to get into her past. It was just that, the past. Okay she was also tense and dealing with memories. So either way, she was going to be doing something she didn’t want to do. So she just tugged on the sleeves of the shrug.
“I’m fine.”
Close enough. It wasn’t an answer about being hot. She’d get through it for now.
Once her load was started Caroline took sat down in the other chair at the folding table. It was the perfect time to catch up with Annie. Something was clearly up. Caroline could easily tell that. “There’s no need to be modest with me,” Caroline said with a reassuring smile, figuring that was what the issue was. “I mean you’ve practically seen me naked,” That was how they met after all. In Peeta’s apartment.
“That’s….not really it.” She was doing this, wasn’t she? Well, she could try to avoid it. While it was true the way she had met Caroline involved accidentally interrupting sex. Or well, near sex, it wasn’t so much the outfit as it was the brands on her back and the scars on her wrists, both from being chained up and also from when she tried killing herself following her breakdown during the trial.
“Then what’s wrong?” Caroline’s eyebrows knitted together in concern. Something was definitely up. She knew Annie wasn’t totally okay with the whole compulsion thing but she didn’t see why that would make Annie need to cover up.
Okay. She definitely wasn’t getting out of this. Maybe a quick answer would be enough and they could move on. “Just scars.” Shrugging as if it wasn’t that big a deal (she’d been dealing with them for four years. So it was pretty normal for her), Annie absently kept tugging on the sleeves of her shrug. So maybe she was a bit uncomfortable and wanted to curl up into herself. But it usually was how it came up. Questions. Even when she told Finnick, it was more she gave him links and a case name so he could look it up as opposed to actually saying it.
That brought a frown to Caroline’s face, which was an unusual thing to see. The girl smiled a lot. She was an optimistic, happy person. Full of light. But hearing that Annie had scars was obviously nothing to smile about and Caroline was genuinely concerned and even a little sad. “What kind of scars?” she asked softly. She wasn’t trying to push, she was just concerned.
Well now she felt uncomfortable. Or… more so than she already had been with the initial questioning because there really wasn’t a way out of it. The box was open. Biting her lower lip, Annie contemplated the best way to go about this. She was too stressed in general about what had happened thanks to the time of year, so she wasn’t sure if she could immediately trust her voice until she got herself grounded. Which really just left one option as she didn’t have her phone to pull up the case file.
And that option was taking the shrug off and turning around to show Caroline her back.
Caroline didn’t know what to say. She just sat there in silence for a moment, staring at the brand marks on Annie’s back. Her jaw might have even dropped slightly. “Oh, Annie,” she finally said. “I’m so sorry,” she covered her mouth with her hand still in shock.
What happened? Was on the tip of her tongue but she wasn’t sure if she should ask. Now she saw why Annie was acting so anxious.
Yeah. This was incredibly awkward. So Annie just pulled her shrug back on once Caroline said something and resituated herself, returning to tugging on the sleeves of the shrug. But it was clear there were scars from being chained up as she did so since it wasn’t like she needed to hurry and put the shrug on now that Caroline had seen the brands. She also could see the question on Caroline’s face and sighed, rubbing her face with her (currently sleeve covered) hands.
“It happened four years ago.” It was never going to be easy talking about it, it was official. “So not dream related.” Because well… Panem. And also when she had stopped swimming since she had mentioned the length of time to Caroline she was pretty sure in the conversation from the network.
Caroline hadn’t even considered it being a dream thing. Though really she should have with what she knew about Peeta’s dreams. But Annie had cleared that up right away. Four years? Why did that sound familiar? Then it clicked. Their network conversation. “Is that why you stopped swimming?”
“One of them. Yeah. Hospitals and trials and more hospitals. Kind of hard to train in that situation.” Even if she had been able to focus. She just hadn’t been. She hadn’t wanted to deal with questions. Or looks. God the pitying looks if people had seen the scars and pieced it together if they hadn’t seen the news reports.
Pitying looks probably similar to the one Caroline had on her face right now. She just felt so bad for whatever had caused Annie to get those scars. She could only imagine, but Annie was actually opening up. Talking about it. There were two ways Caroline could play this. One was change the subject, ask if Annie had started training again. But letting her curiosity get the better of her she chose the other option. “Trials?” she asked. “If you don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to,” she added. Because Caroline wasn’t trying to make her uncomfortable by any means. She just wanted to know what had happened to her friend.
Yeah, the pitying look on Caroline’s face was the type she had moved to Orange County to avoid. But it wasn’t like she could avoid them forever. As she made herself a home here, it wasn’t like the past wouldn’t find a way to come up. Some people accepted her vague references that something had happened and left it there. Others were curious.
Pressing her lips together, Annie flipped to a new page in her sketchbook to at least doodle or something as she spoke about it.
“I was held captive, raped and tortured for two weeks. Police found me. Trial against the two brothers.” It had been a long process and it wasn’t even completely over given the two were out now and had been for a year. But so far, no sign of them in Orange County beyond when she thought she saw them only to realize she was just hallucinating them.
Caroline’s pity turned to rage. Of course she still felt bad for what had happened to Annie. But she was more pissed that someone had put her through that. Had done that to her. “Please tell me those fuckers got locked up for the rest of their lives,” Caroline commented her eyes full of fury.
Or there could be anger. Anger which was something Annie did not do well with, which meant she had tensed more than she already had been. Anger and sudden movements, fastest way to make her tense and want to bold. Right. Breathe. “They were let out on appeal last year.”
Yeah, that had been fun. It had gotten her back in the water following her month long avoidance of swimming thanks to the dreams but that didn’t make it better.
“Breaking down on the stand apparently biased the jury or.. Something.”
“Seriously?” Caroline asked even more pissed off that they had gotten away with it. But as pissed as she was at whoever the fuck those assholes were Annie was what was important right now.
“Are you okay?” she asked her voice softening. It was a stupid question and she knew that given it had apparently been a year now. But still.
“Unfortunately.” Not like it was something she would lie about. God, Annie would sleep much better had the two remained in jail but they had money and thus could afford defense attorneys who could argue that point. Then the question. Was she okay. That was met with a shrug.
“Mostly. Bad time of year, and there are always the bad days, but I have a life here that they aren’t a part of.” Just a constant reminder because of the scars but she had her way of hiding those to avoid questions. “That’s what’s important.”
“It is,” Caroline agreed with a nod. And they would never be part of it again if she had anything to say about it. “If you ever even suspect they are here let me know. Having a vampire for a friend can come in handy.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to be happening given the fact whenever Annie had been convinced she’d seen them, they weren’t there. It was all in her mind and she wasn’t about to make people think they were there only to realize that Annie was out of it. Still, while she appreciated the offer, she wasn’t quite sure what Caroline had in mind and well, that left her uncomfortable. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
It wasn’t murder or anything. Caroline wasn’t a murderer (minus the time her humanity was off). She’d just scare them with her vampire face. Maybe compel them to leave Annie alone forever. Though she wouldn’t tell Annie that knowing how she felt about compulsion. “Of course,” Caroline said finally giving a small smile. “I’m always here, for whatever you need.”
Annie gave a small nod and slight smile in return. “Thank you.” This conversation never got easier and it probably never would. It was one she tried to avoid having but sometimes it just came up. So it wasn’t like there was much that she could do about it. But at least it was out there. It wasn’t like she and Caroline had gone out since the compulsion issue took place so she wasn’t sure about that. But if it came up again, at least she would have that background information if necessary.