ᴋᴏʟᴛɪʀᴀ ·sᴜɴsʜɪɴᴇ· ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜᴡᴇᴀᴠᴇʀ (
respired) wrote in
epidemiology2016-02-27 09:38 pm
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you work so hard to push it all down
CHARACTERS: Koltira; Olivia
DATE: Evening, sometime post Oska-sim
WARNINGS: Naw
SUMMARY: Let's talk this out.
[ He'd found the mirror in his room. Worked in silver, with a clear, shimmering pane of glass set into its oval-shaped frame. The thing was lying on his pillow, as though waiting for him. He had picked it up, turning it over several times, thinking idly in several directions at once. Thinking of forgiveness, and isolation, and of the trees in the courtyard. Reaching for fragments of memories, good or ill, for the faces of the people he'd so recently hurt.
An image of Olivia bubbles to the surface. Her pained expression--not from the last time they spoke, but from earlier than that, the day in the clearing. He remembers the marks on her throat. He's about to turn the mirror face down and walk away, but the glass suddenly ripples. Koltira pauses, and then the mirror reflects a scene: Olivia, in Oska's library, hunched over a book.
He hesitates. It feels wrong, seeing this image. An intrusion, if not an outright violation. Yet he wants to see her, and the mirror has shown him the way.
Before Koltira departs for the library, he tucks the mirror beneath his pillow.
It's an oppressively quiet space. Full of soft breathing, quiet murmurs, the rustle of pages. The susurrus of paper and voices agitates him, prickles up and down his spine. He wants to turn and leave, but then he spots her, sitting exactly where the mirror showed her to be: bent low over a paperback, biting her lip, apparently enthralled.
Koltira comes up beside her. He clears his throat. ]
DATE: Evening, sometime post Oska-sim
WARNINGS: Naw
SUMMARY: Let's talk this out.
[ He'd found the mirror in his room. Worked in silver, with a clear, shimmering pane of glass set into its oval-shaped frame. The thing was lying on his pillow, as though waiting for him. He had picked it up, turning it over several times, thinking idly in several directions at once. Thinking of forgiveness, and isolation, and of the trees in the courtyard. Reaching for fragments of memories, good or ill, for the faces of the people he'd so recently hurt.
An image of Olivia bubbles to the surface. Her pained expression--not from the last time they spoke, but from earlier than that, the day in the clearing. He remembers the marks on her throat. He's about to turn the mirror face down and walk away, but the glass suddenly ripples. Koltira pauses, and then the mirror reflects a scene: Olivia, in Oska's library, hunched over a book.
He hesitates. It feels wrong, seeing this image. An intrusion, if not an outright violation. Yet he wants to see her, and the mirror has shown him the way.
Before Koltira departs for the library, he tucks the mirror beneath his pillow.
It's an oppressively quiet space. Full of soft breathing, quiet murmurs, the rustle of pages. The susurrus of paper and voices agitates him, prickles up and down his spine. He wants to turn and leave, but then he spots her, sitting exactly where the mirror showed her to be: bent low over a paperback, biting her lip, apparently enthralled.
Koltira comes up beside her. He clears his throat. ]
no subject
it had been an innocent thing, at first. a casual foray into the large library of oska. she'd heard there were books found from all over there, hundreds and hundreds of stories from different worlds, different cultures. the naturally curious part of her couldn't resist such a draw like that, and so after a round of her usual chores, she'd ventured in, quiet and excitable.
the book he'd seen her hovering over, it was a mistake. she'd just plucked one out from the shelves at random and thought nothing of the cover displaying a man and a woman holding each other and locked in an intense stare. of course, the more pages she turned, the more the cover began to make sense... and once she'd started, it had grown hard to put it down...
she's just in the middle of reading over a rather graphic kiss when suddenly she feels a presence behind her, announced by the clearing of a throat. ]
—Eep!
[ her sharp squeak is joined by the sound of fluttering pages, as she'd thrown the book from her hands in her surprise. it lands noisily on the ground several feet from her, her face a bright red beacon of guilt and shame. ]
no subject
Am I interrupting something?
no subject
N-Nothing — nothing at all...! Why, um. Why do you ask?
[ she still tries clutches it close to her chest, now that she's straightened up and no longer got her butt sticking up in the air. ]
I mean, um. C-Can I help you?
no subject
I just--
[ His voice is halting, awkward. ]
Wanted to talk to you.
[ He clears his throat. ]
If that was all right.
no subject
You... do?
[ it doesn't occur to her why he might ever want to. as far as olivia was concerned, their — friendship? &madsh; was over, wasn't it? she'd tried, and he'd resisted, and she'd failed, and he'd relented, and too many other things going on with him for her to have the right to keep pushing.
so she doesn't know why he would want to speak with her.
cautiously, her expression turns wary and imploring. ]
Have I done something wrong..?
no subject
Our last meeting did not go as I had wanted, Olivia.
no subject
he's made it quite clear that wasn't the case. ]
Didn't it.
[ she's not exactly sure what he means by that, and so she isn't sure how to take it. he seemed quite eager to be rid of her, last time — but then again, how is that different from any other meeting they've had?
what else could he have possibly wanted? ]
no subject
You spoke to me of the others, of how I ought to do right by them. I don't disagree, but that wasn't the conversation I wanted to have.
[ He frowns, taking a step towards her. ]
Olivia, when I saw you again, I wanted to thank you.
no subject
well that's got her attention, for sure.
she just kind of stares at him. dumbly. deathelf say what ]
You... what?
no subject
You came to me, even after everything I had done. You gave me your care, your time.
[ He takes another step towards her. ]
You trusted that I would not hurt you.
[ This, above all else, means everything to him--especially now, when he feels steeped in a climate of fear. ]
no subject
but hey, to her credit, she doesn't shrink away this time when he approaches. sure, her hands clutch the book a little tighter to her chest, but that's another matter altogether. she doesn't look afraid anymore, and she meets his eyes with a calm, level gaze. ]
Some people might call that foolish, [ she intones, casual and conversational. but her eyes bear into his unwavering right now. brow just lightly cocked. ]
Are any of those people here?
no subject
... no.
no subject
but now she smiles, a warm, easy one that he may be more familiar with. ]
Good. I didn't think so.
[ she holds her hand out towards him then, without any sign of hesitation. ]
Will you help me up?
no subject
He takes her hand, firmly, and lifts her up. ]
Any time, Olivia.