Post by Satra on Oct 21, 2008 16:22:51 GMT -5
All four of you have inspired me to write my own response fic to Lani's Death. XD
This one basically goes in tandem with Nat's response fic, so it's more of Heilyn's side of the story. This was done very quickly and... not really proofread. I just had to get it out of my head. Sorry if it's not so great. P:
I'm also assuming the Court has some form of gym. If not. Ah, well. Not like it's an important part of the story. P:
My sincerest apologies for the title. XD Half-Life: Full-Life Consequences just suddenly popped into my head and I couldn't resist. XD
Title: It Affects Us All: WHAT HAS TOBE DONE
Characters: Heilyn, Bernard, Seth, Temmin, minor mention of Mikael, Sorcha, and Tegan.
Word Count: 1783
Heilyn didn’t particularly care that the bitch was dead. True, the woman didn’t wish her dead either, but these things happen. It was just harder to care about some people more than others.
Heilyn had spent the evening explaining death to her very small children. Naturally, she was as blunt as ever about it. Death could be a horrible thing and it happened to everyone, why dance around the subject and sugar coat it? She knew children. If she left questions unanswered, or partially unanswered… well, she didn’t want them trying to find the answers on their own.
The night was cold…night? Technically. It was close to around 3 am now. The woman kept extremely odd hours. Being born and raised in a region That only saw sun through the cracks of trees caused her biorhythm to be far different that everyone else’s. That was fine. She loved taking walks in the Garden on her own at odd hours in the morning either alone or with kindred spirits of the odd hours. In just another hour or so, she could she the moonlight shining on the dew…
“B-Bernard?!” she blurted out, recognizing the crumpled figure on the ground. She rushed over to him, heart racing. He knew his niece’s death had been rough on him, but… Please let him be alive, please let him be alive… she repeated over and over in her head. Logically, she knew wishful thinking did squatdiddly, but for whatever reason it didn’t stop her from thinking it.
He was alive… but wasn’t looking at her. She saw his eyes flick forward her for a second, so she knew he saw her. As she stood frozen to the spot, for the moment, she finally realized she’d forgotten to breathe. Oh, and how well she used that belated gasp of air.
“What in the HELL are you DOING OUT HERE?!” She couldn’t help it but yell. In retrospect, she should’ve been more comforting, but her paranoia of him doing something drastic at a time like this left her a little less than level-headed, “It’s freezing out here, do you want to get sick? HUH?! ‘Cuz I can assure you it’s not gonna make things better! IF YOU WANNA WALLOW IN MISERY, DO IT SOMEWHERE THAT WON’T GET YOU ILL!” She forcibly took the man to his room, stripped him down out of the clothing damp with dew, and forced him into bed. She took several deep breaths and smoothed her hair in an attempt to calm her fear and anger.
”Heilyn?” his weak voice doing the job far better than she was on her own.
”What?” It came out a little sharper than she meant it to.
”Why do they all die? Why does everyone I love die...?” the question gave her pause. She regretted her sharpness before and when to play the comforting friend role that very few knew she was even capable of. He had been through so much… She sat down on the bed next to him and pulled him into a hug. He deserved to mourn. She had no right to chastise him in this very vulnerable moment. He did, however, need a reality check.
”Do you care about us? You always said you loved your Hills-be-damned friends.” She tightened her grip around him. It was incredibly painful to see him go through this.
”Yes?” came his voice croaking and weakened.
”Then we’re not all dead, and hell if I’m going anywhere, ok?” His hold tightened. He leaned her head onto his as he buried his face in her neck.
”Ok...ok. Oh, Hills, why?” She had no idea what to say. It was a rhetorical question, and nothing she said could’ve helped. She just held him until he fell asleep.
Over the next few days, Heilyn was as busy as ever. Between the children and paperwork, she was kept on her toes. Back to the old grind. However, she was a little surprised at herself at how she did not want to deal with Bernard. She just felt so drained and at the end of the day was terrified she would snap at her dear friend in his vulnerable time. She was relieved, but not without her jealousy, when Bernard started going to Seth for comfort. Then, she heard that he’d not left his room for a while and had not called for food…
“I have food, and you’re going to eat it,” she stated her choice words bluntly and obviously as she burst into his room carrying a tray of food. His door was already open… that worried her, but that’s why she was here. She put the tray down next to the man and began forcing him to eat. This became routine, but Heilyn didn’t mind. He was being taken care of, and that was what mattered. She would also often force him to bathe, no matter what protests she may receive.
Every visit, she couldn't help but chastise him a little. Not for his mourning, but his using his mourning as an excuse for self-neglect. She tried to stop, knowing she should not be critical at a time like this. However, it seemed that when she comforted him, he got lost in thoughts of misery, but when she treated him like one of her children, he seemed to come forward into reality. It was in her nature, the nature of her culture, to use touch as a sign of affection, platonic or otherwise. She wanted to hold him, stroke his hair and face gently instead of the somewhat rough feeding and grooming she did as she talked at her friend rather than too him. However, it was like a pinch to wake from a dream. It seemed to help more to receive a touch less filled with pity for him, and he didn't seem to be capable of any real conversation, so she didn't force it. She hated it, but it's what she perceived that he needed, so she provided.
Then, the news came. Temmin had informed them of Bernard’s… condition. Kill the kids, or kill Bernard. Seth spoke just as Heilyn opened her mouth to suggest exactly what she was thinking, except Seth offered himself rather than Heilyn being pregnant again. There were times where she loved Seth more than she could express.
Heilyn gave Seth all the love, support and attention he gave her when she was pregnant. However, he only spent a few months in the pregnancy as he had some time to incubated the eggs after they were laid and Bernard had had them for a while as well. However, the sudden introduction of the hormones into the man’s body was not at all graceful and had rather horrendous side effects. Poor man. She’d gone through her fair share of punching bags in the gym to relieve all the stress she wouldn’t dare let Seth see, leaving the shredded piles of sand and leather on the floor for the staff to clean up while she tended to her cracked and bleeding knuckles, the cleaning and self-grooming theraputic. She needed to be a pillar of strength for him at this time.
The eggs were gorgeous. They really were. The Heart’s Court had recently gone through an explosion of babies and Heilyn dreaded the addition of four more… but she couldn’t help but feel a little giddy about them hatching. She’d grown up in a region where childbirth was a rough thing and having more than three or four children was unheard of. Her own five children was a great source of pride and feeling overwhelmed.
“Seth, take a break and go run around for a little while,” she said, switching to her Animal Form, “I’ll sit on the eggs.” For a moment, Heilyn wondered if he’d at some point boosted his Spade speed ability. As she gently settled her body over the eggs, she touched the egg swirled with blue and brown with her nose. If they were as beautiful as the eggshells were…
She carefully walked in a circle before settling down on the eggs, looking at all of them to avoid stepping on any of them as she gave into to her Canine circling instinct. She was incredibly worried about the eggs with the marking that looking like a bleeding cut. What did that mean? And the blue gem… It intrigued her. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be worried about the shape of the long, thin one. She asked Temmin once. Hell, he was both and Bird and a Doctor! Surely he’d know!
The best he got out of him was birthing was not his specialty and they would just have to wait and see the results. Heilyn also asked several other questions, making sure she didn’t miss a single fact. She was extremely appreciative of Temmin and the medical staff. The Heron had helped to make the woman’s view on Corvistownes more positive over the past few years, this incident certainly adding to it.
The day she’d received the notice that Bernard had finally woke up was a day of joy and great pain. It wouldn’t be until later that she would discover she’d spilt an entire bottle of ink all over the paperwork she’d spent all day slaving over in her excitement to rush to the man’s side.
However, being force to wait outside, she was left alone with her thoughts. The excitement to see her friend again began to make way for thoughts of the eggs Seth was currently sitting on and trying to protect from the three curious children who seemed to constantly want to touch and look at them. What would Bernard’s reaction be? Would it be too much to show him so suddenly?
Temmin had finally let her in, ironically, as the most of her doubts prevailed in her thoughts. She passed by the Heron, touching him on the shoulder in a show of silent appreciation as she did so.
“Heilyn? What happened?” he asked. Subconsciously, she crossed her arms over her chest. How could she possibly answer that question?
“Think you can get up?” Well, what better time to help him physically recuperate his muscles after being comatose for two months?
“I suppose… might need some help, but…” Heilyn helped him up and gave him all the help Bernard would allow her to give on the way there. She spared him the “indignity” of carrying him. The last thing the man needed before showing him eggs he didn’t even know he was carrying was to be forcibly carried there in a way that made his poor man pride sore.
Seth gave the man a weak smile as the pair entered.
“I don’t really know how to say it, so I guess I’ll just show you…” she said. She felt a little uncomfortable. Not only where they about the show the poor man children he never knew he had, it was a clear reminder of the night he so forcibly wanted to forget. She physically turned him around and pointed his head down to what Seth was sitting on. He looked back at her in confusion. Right, she’d forgotten to clarify. “Oh yeah. They’re yours.”
Perhaps it was a little too soon, she thought as she scrambled to catch the man to lessen his fall. She looked back at Seth, who was in the middle of getting up to reach for him.
“I’ll put him in our bed until he wakes up, you just stay there…” she muttered to him. It was amazing for as little the man weighed, how much more difficult it was to carry dead weight. She slung one of his arms over her shoulder and carried him on his back to the bed. His reaction made her a little fearful, but she resolved. Even if he can’t or doesn’t want to take care of them… Seth and I will find a way to manage…
This one basically goes in tandem with Nat's response fic, so it's more of Heilyn's side of the story. This was done very quickly and... not really proofread. I just had to get it out of my head. Sorry if it's not so great. P:
I'm also assuming the Court has some form of gym. If not. Ah, well. Not like it's an important part of the story. P:
My sincerest apologies for the title. XD Half-Life: Full-Life Consequences just suddenly popped into my head and I couldn't resist. XD
Title: It Affects Us All: WHAT HAS TOBE DONE
Characters: Heilyn, Bernard, Seth, Temmin, minor mention of Mikael, Sorcha, and Tegan.
Word Count: 1783
Heilyn didn’t particularly care that the bitch was dead. True, the woman didn’t wish her dead either, but these things happen. It was just harder to care about some people more than others.
Heilyn had spent the evening explaining death to her very small children. Naturally, she was as blunt as ever about it. Death could be a horrible thing and it happened to everyone, why dance around the subject and sugar coat it? She knew children. If she left questions unanswered, or partially unanswered… well, she didn’t want them trying to find the answers on their own.
The night was cold…night? Technically. It was close to around 3 am now. The woman kept extremely odd hours. Being born and raised in a region That only saw sun through the cracks of trees caused her biorhythm to be far different that everyone else’s. That was fine. She loved taking walks in the Garden on her own at odd hours in the morning either alone or with kindred spirits of the odd hours. In just another hour or so, she could she the moonlight shining on the dew…
“B-Bernard?!” she blurted out, recognizing the crumpled figure on the ground. She rushed over to him, heart racing. He knew his niece’s death had been rough on him, but… Please let him be alive, please let him be alive… she repeated over and over in her head. Logically, she knew wishful thinking did squatdiddly, but for whatever reason it didn’t stop her from thinking it.
He was alive… but wasn’t looking at her. She saw his eyes flick forward her for a second, so she knew he saw her. As she stood frozen to the spot, for the moment, she finally realized she’d forgotten to breathe. Oh, and how well she used that belated gasp of air.
“What in the HELL are you DOING OUT HERE?!” She couldn’t help it but yell. In retrospect, she should’ve been more comforting, but her paranoia of him doing something drastic at a time like this left her a little less than level-headed, “It’s freezing out here, do you want to get sick? HUH?! ‘Cuz I can assure you it’s not gonna make things better! IF YOU WANNA WALLOW IN MISERY, DO IT SOMEWHERE THAT WON’T GET YOU ILL!” She forcibly took the man to his room, stripped him down out of the clothing damp with dew, and forced him into bed. She took several deep breaths and smoothed her hair in an attempt to calm her fear and anger.
”Heilyn?” his weak voice doing the job far better than she was on her own.
”What?” It came out a little sharper than she meant it to.
”Why do they all die? Why does everyone I love die...?” the question gave her pause. She regretted her sharpness before and when to play the comforting friend role that very few knew she was even capable of. He had been through so much… She sat down on the bed next to him and pulled him into a hug. He deserved to mourn. She had no right to chastise him in this very vulnerable moment. He did, however, need a reality check.
”Do you care about us? You always said you loved your Hills-be-damned friends.” She tightened her grip around him. It was incredibly painful to see him go through this.
”Yes?” came his voice croaking and weakened.
”Then we’re not all dead, and hell if I’m going anywhere, ok?” His hold tightened. He leaned her head onto his as he buried his face in her neck.
”Ok...ok. Oh, Hills, why?” She had no idea what to say. It was a rhetorical question, and nothing she said could’ve helped. She just held him until he fell asleep.
Over the next few days, Heilyn was as busy as ever. Between the children and paperwork, she was kept on her toes. Back to the old grind. However, she was a little surprised at herself at how she did not want to deal with Bernard. She just felt so drained and at the end of the day was terrified she would snap at her dear friend in his vulnerable time. She was relieved, but not without her jealousy, when Bernard started going to Seth for comfort. Then, she heard that he’d not left his room for a while and had not called for food…
“I have food, and you’re going to eat it,” she stated her choice words bluntly and obviously as she burst into his room carrying a tray of food. His door was already open… that worried her, but that’s why she was here. She put the tray down next to the man and began forcing him to eat. This became routine, but Heilyn didn’t mind. He was being taken care of, and that was what mattered. She would also often force him to bathe, no matter what protests she may receive.
Every visit, she couldn't help but chastise him a little. Not for his mourning, but his using his mourning as an excuse for self-neglect. She tried to stop, knowing she should not be critical at a time like this. However, it seemed that when she comforted him, he got lost in thoughts of misery, but when she treated him like one of her children, he seemed to come forward into reality. It was in her nature, the nature of her culture, to use touch as a sign of affection, platonic or otherwise. She wanted to hold him, stroke his hair and face gently instead of the somewhat rough feeding and grooming she did as she talked at her friend rather than too him. However, it was like a pinch to wake from a dream. It seemed to help more to receive a touch less filled with pity for him, and he didn't seem to be capable of any real conversation, so she didn't force it. She hated it, but it's what she perceived that he needed, so she provided.
Then, the news came. Temmin had informed them of Bernard’s… condition. Kill the kids, or kill Bernard. Seth spoke just as Heilyn opened her mouth to suggest exactly what she was thinking, except Seth offered himself rather than Heilyn being pregnant again. There were times where she loved Seth more than she could express.
Heilyn gave Seth all the love, support and attention he gave her when she was pregnant. However, he only spent a few months in the pregnancy as he had some time to incubated the eggs after they were laid and Bernard had had them for a while as well. However, the sudden introduction of the hormones into the man’s body was not at all graceful and had rather horrendous side effects. Poor man. She’d gone through her fair share of punching bags in the gym to relieve all the stress she wouldn’t dare let Seth see, leaving the shredded piles of sand and leather on the floor for the staff to clean up while she tended to her cracked and bleeding knuckles, the cleaning and self-grooming theraputic. She needed to be a pillar of strength for him at this time.
The eggs were gorgeous. They really were. The Heart’s Court had recently gone through an explosion of babies and Heilyn dreaded the addition of four more… but she couldn’t help but feel a little giddy about them hatching. She’d grown up in a region where childbirth was a rough thing and having more than three or four children was unheard of. Her own five children was a great source of pride and feeling overwhelmed.
“Seth, take a break and go run around for a little while,” she said, switching to her Animal Form, “I’ll sit on the eggs.” For a moment, Heilyn wondered if he’d at some point boosted his Spade speed ability. As she gently settled her body over the eggs, she touched the egg swirled with blue and brown with her nose. If they were as beautiful as the eggshells were…
She carefully walked in a circle before settling down on the eggs, looking at all of them to avoid stepping on any of them as she gave into to her Canine circling instinct. She was incredibly worried about the eggs with the marking that looking like a bleeding cut. What did that mean? And the blue gem… It intrigued her. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be worried about the shape of the long, thin one. She asked Temmin once. Hell, he was both and Bird and a Doctor! Surely he’d know!
The best he got out of him was birthing was not his specialty and they would just have to wait and see the results. Heilyn also asked several other questions, making sure she didn’t miss a single fact. She was extremely appreciative of Temmin and the medical staff. The Heron had helped to make the woman’s view on Corvistownes more positive over the past few years, this incident certainly adding to it.
The day she’d received the notice that Bernard had finally woke up was a day of joy and great pain. It wouldn’t be until later that she would discover she’d spilt an entire bottle of ink all over the paperwork she’d spent all day slaving over in her excitement to rush to the man’s side.
However, being force to wait outside, she was left alone with her thoughts. The excitement to see her friend again began to make way for thoughts of the eggs Seth was currently sitting on and trying to protect from the three curious children who seemed to constantly want to touch and look at them. What would Bernard’s reaction be? Would it be too much to show him so suddenly?
Temmin had finally let her in, ironically, as the most of her doubts prevailed in her thoughts. She passed by the Heron, touching him on the shoulder in a show of silent appreciation as she did so.
“Heilyn? What happened?” he asked. Subconsciously, she crossed her arms over her chest. How could she possibly answer that question?
“Think you can get up?” Well, what better time to help him physically recuperate his muscles after being comatose for two months?
“I suppose… might need some help, but…” Heilyn helped him up and gave him all the help Bernard would allow her to give on the way there. She spared him the “indignity” of carrying him. The last thing the man needed before showing him eggs he didn’t even know he was carrying was to be forcibly carried there in a way that made his poor man pride sore.
Seth gave the man a weak smile as the pair entered.
“I don’t really know how to say it, so I guess I’ll just show you…” she said. She felt a little uncomfortable. Not only where they about the show the poor man children he never knew he had, it was a clear reminder of the night he so forcibly wanted to forget. She physically turned him around and pointed his head down to what Seth was sitting on. He looked back at her in confusion. Right, she’d forgotten to clarify. “Oh yeah. They’re yours.”
Perhaps it was a little too soon, she thought as she scrambled to catch the man to lessen his fall. She looked back at Seth, who was in the middle of getting up to reach for him.
“I’ll put him in our bed until he wakes up, you just stay there…” she muttered to him. It was amazing for as little the man weighed, how much more difficult it was to carry dead weight. She slung one of his arms over her shoulder and carried him on his back to the bed. His reaction made her a little fearful, but she resolved. Even if he can’t or doesn’t want to take care of them… Seth and I will find a way to manage…
