chaoticwhimsy | Contact post for eachdraidh

[ These reactions are not what she's used to. ]

... yes, I am alright. I'm at the Barrel right now, Lumina.

[Not being able to lie makes for a somewhat unsettling Lumina...]

The barrel? Okay. Uh. ...Where is that?

It's in Nimh Gleanne.

Oh I've been there! [She actually laughs, and it isn't even her sneaky little giggle.]

Lemmie just find a place to tie up Chaos, he keeps wandering off.

There are plenty of places, I am sure.

[ Except she wouldn't have seen them, being stuck here in a bed. ]

[It's a few minutes later when Lumina speaks again, her chocobo tied up outside.]

Hey okay which room are you in?

I am outside right now. Forgive me, but I've had enough of tight quarters to last me.

[ She's just sitting out here with her rabbit, no big deal. ]

[Lumina doesn't answer, instead she goes hurrying around the building until she spots Alice. Her face actually lights up as she sees her, and she runs over...intent on giving her a hug, but drawing short because of the bunny. But only for a moment.]

I'm so glad you're alright!

[It bursts out in a wave before she goes to hug Alice anyway. Sorry bunny.]

[ Sophie doesn't seem to phased.

Alice seems phased. She flinches, hitches a breath. After everything, Alice is much more tense than she usually is. She doesn't do anything to shove to push Lumina off as much as she hates touch.

Lumina is a child. ]

I'm fine, no harm done.

[Lumina can pretty much tell the hug isn't welcome, she's done a lot of unwanted hugging over the years! But she leans back, dropping onto her knees to peer at the older girl, just making sure she's in one piece.]

So you fell in the ocean then got kidnapped by a crazy person, but no harm done?

[Ahhh, there's that normal tone of hers...]

[ Once again, Alice considers her age before giving her a much more morbid, darker brush off.

"I've been through worse."

"I'm alive."

It's still nothing like Rutledge. She thinks that to herself, even when she was in the ice-cold water, the boat was cozier than the asylum ]

It'll be alright.

Ugh. [Lumina huffs.] You sound like Lightning. She was always insisting everything was fine even when everything was so very clearly terrible. Course, she was kind of a mess...

[Blue eyes fix on Alice then.]

If you bottle everything up, it ends badly. Not just for you, for everybody around you too.

[ That hits a nerve for Alice, who falls into silence for a moment. She's never really had the luxury of people worried for her well being, not in a very long time. She doesn't know what to say to that but sag forward lsilently with Sophie in her lap. ]

Hey! [Lumina scoots closer, twisting to sit next to her, and puts an hand on her back.] Sorry, I'm trying not to make things worse, promise.

[God this not lying this made everything more complicated.]

It's just. I've got this sister, right? ['Sister' was the easiest way to explain their relationship anyway.] Her name's Lightning. Well, no it's not but it's what she tells everybody her name is. Anyway, she spent so long bottling everything up inside, thinking she had to be strong and tough and make sure nobody ever knew that something was wrong that it broke her!

You gotta be careful about stuff like that. Trust me.

[ Her sister.

Lizzie Alice remembers. She spent a good portion of her time trading secrets with Alice when Alice was young. Of course, Alice was 11 years younger than her. Lizzie kept that secret from her family, until it boiled over and she caved and told their father what had happened before their deaths. Bottling it up was a solution for Lizzie, because Alice was too young to understand Bumby's disgusting advances.

All of this has conjured up a lot of old feelings for Alice, ones she wasn't really ready to deal with again. Alice sucks in a breath thinking she can hold back tears. Sister. Lumina doesn't know, it's not fair to burden her with those things. But there's little Alice can do when she bursts into tears, covering her face so that Sophie doesn't get caught in the crossfire. Besides, who takes children away from their older sisters, anyway? That's cruel. ]

[Oh crud. Lumina wasn't sure what she had thought sharing would accomplish, but it was not this.]

Sorry.

[She wasn't sure what else to say, not while Alice was bawling like that. Instead she scooted a bit closer and tried to give her another hug.]

It's not your fault.

[ It's mine. She thinks to herself, she thinks she's too weak and a failure having been kidnapped. Alice isn't very thrilled about being touch, but Lumina's young enough that she gets away with it. ]

I'm afraid you're far too young to hear some things. It's more than that, that's all I will say.

But I know, my sister did the same thing, too.

Sure. [Lumina is used to that. She is a kid, but at the same time she isn't, yet it's not something she really wants to give up. So when it comes down to it, she isn't going to press the point. Besides, maybe Alice was right, maybe she really was too young to hear it.]

[As the other girl talks, Lumina releases the hug, though she keeps her hand on her back. She knew she liked that, or she thought she would. People were rarely comforting to chaos children.]

I think it's just a big sister flaw, and no matter how much you shout it at them, they can't change it.

She knew that well until she passed away.

[ Lizzie was so fiercely protective of her and Alice had looked up to her in addition to her mother as a model lady. Alice wipes her eyes, and looks back down at the rabbit in her lap who hasn't budged the entire time.

Sophie was always so good about tuning into Alice's emotions. ]

You have nothing to apologize for. All of them will be leaving soon to stop Reynard and I will be here.

[ And Alice hates that; he's drained her, locked her up in a cell, and struck her so hard that she hit the ground.

But still it is nothing compared to the ten years in the asylum. ]

And he will hurt them again.

[She doesn't know what to say about the sister thing. She's lost one too, in a complicated, round-about, kinda-has-her-soul-inside-her way.]

Or maybe they'll kill him dead. [Lumina isn't entirely sure she believes it, but it's not a lie either.]

Plus you've gone through the wringer twice in a week. I'm pretty sure you get to take a couple days to not be doing that.

[ More than a week, but Alice has lost track of days. Her mind simply goes back to Berserker wounded. What if she didn't intervene with the hobby horse? What would happen to him? The idea frightens her. ]

It will take more than just words for that, Lumina. Much more.

We'll see. [Lumina knows there's a plan but she doesn't know enough of the details to really be sure of anything. Heart hunting is the theme of the hour.]

You really want to be there, huh.

Yes.

[ But Alice is already resigned to the fact she's too weak to go. Although- ]

But you shouldn't, you're far too young for these sort of things.

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