alwayskayaking | Duplicity Inbox

[ There is silence, one long, long moment of silence. Maybe, almost, she might have relented.

But it is long, long past that. Rightly, or more correctly: wrongly, her pain is too much and her anger with it just wanting to land on something, anything at all.

Then the sound of water rushes. Trickling, like there is an ocean on the other side of the door and it will not be kept out. ]

𝕮𝖔𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖉! Coward that she gives me truths where 𝖞𝖔𝖚 will only spit pathetic deflections so you may save your pathetic ego! Yet you accuse me of not holding my 𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖊! Do you want to know what it looks like when I truly no longer wish to do so?! I am 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖙. 𝕷𝖔𝖊. I am 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖑𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖊𝖆-𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 and you are a l̵̰̫̰̤̭͒̅͑̐̋̏̓į̵̳͔̥̞͇͕̙̲͙̊̊͛͌̿̾͘͘͝͝t̶̹̬̜͓̭́̅͆̽̒͌̚͜͜ͅṫ̵̢̪̩͎͂̉̌͗͆͛̌̏̏l̵͙̘̤̳͓̼͋͐̈́̔͝ė̶̛͈̓̂̄͑̄͗͝ ̶̻̥͍͖̍̆́m̸̨̲̟͎̩̩̤͗̊͗̍̐̃̉͝á̶̱̈́͌̃n̶̢̟̐ filled with fear of what he barely comprehends and 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖐𝖊𝖊𝖕 𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖎𝖙 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖑𝖎𝖕𝖘!

[ The door shatters. She does not barge through it, she does not follow in. Simply that it cannot stand the pressure she forces against it, and the decompression between where he stands and here she stands explodes it. She stands there, pulled up to her full height and her hair a mantle that floats above her head, her eyes, and the black, black eyes of the Sea-Father above them so that two sets open, stare. The water that bids her clothes to float and twist around her. ]

[Charlotte's not stupid enough to let Tim have a whole lot more time with that stupid gun. She's bending back his arm and wrist, not quite hard enough to break, but enough to be painful and hopefully get him to let go. Thanks to the very supernatural part of her? She's stronger than him without having to put forth a whole lot of effort.] Don't be fucking stupid. Drop the fucking thing, Tim! [It's vaguely reminiscent of when she had to tell werewolf!Tim to drop Jon. The problem is the door is suddenly no more, and that makes Charlotte loosen her grip.

She's quick to move between Tim and what's left of the door/Gilia, though it takes her a few seconds to register what's happening. Charlotte has seen a lot of bizarre things over the course of her life. This is a moment that's both terrifying and equally fascinating.

Get it together, vixen. You don't have a lot of time to stare.]

Gilia... [Charlotte takes a deep breath. Be cool, Honeybunny.] Please. You're my friend, right? I have never lied to you, and I'm not about to start. Jacob went after Tim to defend your honor, yes. They've made peace--as far as I know. I know you're trying to protect Jacob, too, but-- this isn't right. What Tim's doing now, what you're doing now. This isn't going to get anyone anywhere but hurt or killed. It doesn't solve anything. What would Jacob say?

[She's pretty sure her voice wasn't shaking too much. That is to say, it kind of was. Charlotte's attempt at peacemaking is kind of dependent on Tim, and good Gaia...

She has zero faith in him to keep his mouth shut right now, and wonders what part of her's left that hasn't bled for Tim fucking Stoker that's probably going to start now.]

Ow! [Tim hisses with pain and discomfort as he's forced to drop his gun. Glaring at Charlotte for disarming with him with a threat to his life just behind the door.

The cops are dialed just as the door crashes in. Now feeling completely defenceless he's even more afraid.] Charlotte... [He nervously tries to plead.] The fire escape. Go. [He reaching for his dropped gun with the phone still on with emergency services. He raises his voice so that hopefully they can hear and understand that he can't freely talk right now.] Gilia. Leave. You have no right to break into my home on LEVEL SEVEN of the DOMINANT HOUSING. I'm not hurting anyone so you need to go. [Not his most subtle, but he's hoping that is enough that they'll send a guard or a hundred here.]

[Her eyes turn to Charlotte before her head turns. The dark black depths, that move without seeing and look without acknowledging. Her rage palpable. Her absolute sensatio of pressure. The pressure that blasted the door from its hinges. It fills the room as sea water begins to run and pool at her feet. ]

That's what I thought. That's what I thought. I thought if I swallowed it, if I swallowed it all, nothing would be left!

Then I woke up, with a thing that had his face, saying that it was punishing me because of sending others of 'my kind' after him. Then I had him force himself on me with his face and his voice and his touch and still I swallowed it! I look at him every day and must say nothing because I wanted no harm to come to him! I did not even tell my Dominant what this face had done to me because I was doing everything I could to stop this between us.

[ Her mouth twists to something near hysterical in rage, trying so hard to keep her form singular. ]

And now when I want one single answer that my friend, a man whom I love, is being treated well! Is safe and protected! And I hear the petulant scream of a coward that would rather accuse me than ever answer a simple question. I will not have it! I will not leave someone dear to me at the hands of one who has no honour!

Edited 2021-02-09 04:34 (UTC)

[Gilia's form and anger are absolutely terrifying, and Charlotte feels her own gut churn at the thought of the description she's providing. She has no idea of what she speaks of, a thing with Tim's face, and all she can think of is that Festival somehow managed to go utterly mad. She hopes this is not the case, hopes there's a better explanation than what Charlotte is hearing now and what she hasn't been told.

Communication in this town? Forget it. Trauma? Good Gaia, everybody in this place has some semblance of it, and all of them need therapy. And then some.

Charlotte shakes her head at Tim's pleas, choosing to stand her ground between him and Gilia. Gilia who might actually be able to tear through Charlotte to get to Tim.]

Do you not trust Jacob with his own thoughts and feelings about how he would handle Tim if he's wronged? I don't know if he would want you to do this, Gilia. What Tim did to you before wasn't right, no matter how terrified he is of pretty much everything--including me. You have every right to feel the way you do. Your feelings matter and are so valid. But I'm asking you to please trust me. Trust Jacob. Tim's suffered plenty because of his own fear and anger, and he's trying. I know it probably doesn't matter much to you, and that's okay. But I don't think this is going to help. I wish I had known--I wish I could have helped you. I wish so much you could have talked to someone. It's so hard to reach out when you need it most.

[Charlotte runs a hand through her hair, feeling like she's just standing there being a blathering dumbass.] I don't really want to drown, Gilia. Dying really sucks. A lot. I don't want to do that again. I don't want anybody to die for words or lack thereof.

Edited (sleep is winning. Words are dumb today.) 2021-02-10 03:45 (UTC)

[Tim listens to Charlotte's words and quietly tries to move towards her side. Not to run and leave her, but to come out from behind her. She was right; he was still afraid of her, but he was also tired of her constantly getting hurt because of him.]

I'm sorry. [He says continuing try to get out from behind Charlotte and away from her as well.] I didn't know about my clone until it was much too late. No one should have had to suffer what it was doing. [It's an honest and genuine apology.] But that wasn't me. I'm not my clone. My clone was a monster. Probably the worst I've ever come across, but it's dead now. You can ask Jon. We killed it.

You need to go home, Gilia. You don't need to hurt anyone, but if you're going to then I hope you remember that it was my face and not Charlotte's that hurt you. [He hopes he can survive whatever Gilia is long enough for the cops to show up.]

[ She freezes. Not to say she just stops moving.

But like, in a second, she realises what she is doing. What has overcome her. One look at the terror on both their faces and her whole being stops. An ocean that snapped frozen and inside of her chest. Her mouth opens and language dies and the creatures in pain that live inside of her want to scream. But all motion ceases. To nothing, nothing, nothing as her eyes go wide.

Looking at them both. Her hands at her seize into claws at her side.

Then her hands cup her face and she begins to wail. Sobbing so violently the water spreads out. Creating a puddle as the black eyes that have opened on her eyes keep staring, unchanging, from her face. But she only cries harder, and harder, a sound that is not human. It is a whale song, groaning and vibrating deep inside of the chest before it is heard. It is the whistle of wind between rocks. That somewhere between all of it, is her words. The same, repeated words: ]

What have I done? What have I done? Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me-

[ Then she takes a step back -

She disappears. Straight into the pool of her own shadow, that swallows her down cannot be followed after. ]

[Charlotte's reaching over for Tim, moving to step in front of him because of the two of them? The vixen is probably the one who's better able to withstand what might come at them, and give Tim a chance to get the hell away. She's trying to back up and keep him behind her when Gilia practically folds in on herself, emitting sounds of anguish that Charlotte has never heard before in her life and apologizing profusely in the midst of it all. The vixen keeps her focus on what's happening before her, ready to grab Tim --

--and with a last plead of forgiveness, Gilia's gone.

Charlotte opens and closes her mouth a few times, trying to either catch her breath or find something to say that's sensible as she looks over at Tim.]

Holy fuck.

[Tim is trembling in terror and doing his best to pretend like he wasn't. The thought racing through his mind is that he didn't want to stand frozen again like before. When he had stood motionless and watched his brother killed in front of him.

Yet what can he do against a force like this? Even as Gilia wails she's still so terrifying to him. He grabs at Charlotte's shoulder and upper arm. Tugging at her and trying to pull her a bit further into the apartment. Get away! His natural flight instinct was screaming at him. Get away! Get away! GET AWAY!

Then suddenly she vanishes and he jumps as if to avoid an attack, but there is no attack to dodge.] Is it gone? [He had been trying to call those he say as monsters by their chosen pronouns lately, but in his fear he defaults back to an 'it' when talking about Gilia.] Maybe we should go out the fire escape just in case.

She's gone, Tim. [Charlotte swallows the lump in her throat that had built up out of that very real fear. She was the last person to know what the hell to do in this situation, but she was also, unfortunately, better situated than Tim had been.

She looks around at the mess of the place and into the hall, listening for the authorities to show up.]

I don't know where she went, but it's not here. And--[Dear Gaia, she wants so much to tell him to get rid of that stupid gun before he actually kills somebody, but Charlotte leaves it. It's not the time. Never is probably the time, and she'll talk to Jon later.

She sighs, rubbing her forehead. Tim's practically vibrating out of his skin.] The guards are on their way. Let's get you a drink and get them a statement.

How can you be so sure? [His eyes never leave the puddle she left behind.] She could be hiding in the water.

[Speaking of the gun, Tim pick it up off the floor and puts the safety back on it while they wait.] I should have called them sooner, I was really hoping she would have just left without breaking the door.

[She looks at Tim in much the same way Jim looks at the camera in 'The Office'.]

I'm ... kind of built to get an idea of this stuff? Senses... that whole thing? We can mop up the floor.

[Charlotte frowns at the gun and moves on.] I tried. I really, really tried. That was all I knew.

M-Maybe let's wait for the police to arrive. Just in case? [He still doesn't trust that puddle.]

And I know you did. [A beat as he swallows and takes a nervous breath.] Thanks. You know, for being there.

Sure. Of course. [Not like it was the first time, but Gilia's form and mindset had honestly scared the bejesus out of Charlotte. Granted, it's not the first time she'd faced off with something she'd never seen before, but there was a very different something about this time. A level of unknown she's not run into before.]

If it's worth anything? [She looks up from the puddle to Tim.] I was scared shitless, too.

I'm sorry you had to go through that. [Because of him.] I'm glad it mostly worked out.

[She brushes away some of her hair from her cheek before turning back to whatever the remnants were of the front door.]

Yeah. Something like that.

I'll get the mop. [Tim will do his share in working to clean up the mess that was left behind. That is until he hears the ding of the elevator and hands whatever cleaning item he was holding quickly over to Charlotte with a muttered apology. He still needed to act like a dominant when the city was watching.

The guards have several questions that Tim will answer honestly while also trying to insist that he thinks the danger has passed so they were no longer needed. No, he doesn't want to press charges anymore or have her arrested tonight, but they still request he show up tomorrow morning to make another statment about the events tonight. Also to call back should his neighbour threaten him again.

After that it's just arranging with the housing people to get a new door. A couple submissives are sent up and get to work right away on the replacement.]

[A little later on once shit's mostly calmed down, Charlotte will take a good hard look at that untouched bottle of bourbon. It's something she really hadn't wanted any part of, but tonight was a night of 'what the actual fuck?'. She'll call out in the apartment.]

Feel like getting drunk?

With me? [He sounds surprised.] I mean; I do, but do you mean the two of us drinking together? Or are you just finding a round about way to ask me to leave the apartment for a bit?

[She holds up the bottle.] Sucks to drink alone, and you spent a chunk of cash on this. Figure that you deserve to enjoy some of it.

It was for you, but if you really want to share it with me? I'm not going to say no. Especially tonight.

[She shrugs.] I know it was for me. I think sharing this with you tonight is what I want to do with it. [Good Gaia, tonight definitely calls for it.]

You need it. I need it. The door probably needed it, but we're what we got right now.

We'll drink for the door. In memory of how strong and... door like it was. Let us remember our fallen door.

I didn't think a door could actually do that in a particulate fashion, but here we are.

[Particle/particulate. Ah ha. Shut up, Charlotte.

She's wandered into the kitchen, glad to open up the bottle that she hadn't really wanted from Tim's guilt-ridden self, but figures tonight had been a shitshow all around. Bottle open. Glasses out. Drinks poured.]

Heh. [He gives a small laugh at the pun. Appreciating it even if he felt too tired to give it the laugh it deserves.]

You'd be surprised by what doors can do. Some can kill you. So best to show them a little respect. [He says it lightly as if he was joking, but there is something there that makes him sound serious about that.]

Edited (Decided to add a little more ) 2021-03-17 21:57 (UTC)

Duplicity Inbox

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject