Everything Ends [and so does this thread]

[carcinoGeneticist]

A strange stillness had settled around the court.

It started when Seth died on the operating table. It thickened when Xiven woke with blood on her bedsheets, her hopes of a family with Apocalypse evaporating as simply as that. When Bernard died as well, bringing with him the last remnants of what the Court had been, the stillness had slipped its stifling fingers into every little nook and cranny of the walls of the court. A part of Apocalypse wanted to break out of it and hide far, far from everything. His own emotional state left him weakened and drained, and his injuries only added to that.

It seemed like everywhere he turned someone needed his help.

He was now The King of Hearts, and it was only Bernard's hard work that kept him from feeling utterly buried with that set of responsibilities. That was good, because then he had responsibilities towards Xiven. He needed to be there for her, needed to show her that he didn't fault her for what had happened to her. To them. But it was hard. Sometimes he wanted to cry when he looked at her, the thoughts of could have and should have too loud to ignore. So he found other things that he needed to do.

Heilyn needed him.

She was drinking too much, she'd said, and she couldn't properly look after the children if she was drunk all the time. She needed him to help support her, to keep her away from the bottle when her own self control was shot. He could do that. He could keep her company, too, whenever he wasn't trying to figure out what he could do to find her help for raising five needy newborns.

Except today. Today, Xiven had needed him. She'd run into him in the hall - which had been almost excruciatingly painful for the man - and promptly burst into tears. How could he tell her that he wasn't avoiding her? He just needed time to deal with his own issues and try to get his "mother" back on her feet.

So he'd spent the day with her.

By the time she seemed better off, it was late. Far later than he'd realized. When he glanced out a window and realized it was dark outside, he felt his stomach clench. "Fucking..." His leg was feeling worse than usual, his ribs hurt, his head throbbed... But Heilyn needed him, too, and Heilyn was Family. She was the most important family he had, if he was going to be completely honest with himself, and that thought forced his feet to move just a little bit faster as he plodded down the hall towards her room. He knocked softly on the door, then pushed it open, peering in.

The scent of alcohol hit him like a train. Damnit. He'd really fucked this one, hadn't he?

"Heilyn? You okay?" The man stepped in, closing the door behind him and glancing around the room.

[Satra]

Apocalypse had left to go fetch Zuberi. She assured him she could manage while he was gone. It would only be a few days, a week and a half at most. She did very well the first few days, taking care of the children and facing her grief sober. It was unbearably painful, but she knew she was recovering much faster than she would have if she turned into a complete alcoholic rather than a plausibly deniable one.

The last few days were brutal, however, and she started to slip. It started with a drink or two, just to get her calm. She did have a heart condition, after all, and all this stress would just make it worse, especially with her lack of sleep. Then the habit snowballed back to its previous status. Every time she told herself the empty promise that it would help her sleep, that it would make just a few moments better, and all those little moments would add up and make everything better, but every time it failed her, making her worse off than before.

She lay on her floor, the children asleep in the room that was supposed to be Seth's when he first came, but only ended up being used for storage storage and newborns. She was laying down on her bed drinking, hoping it would eventually put her to sleep, when Pale came in through the door she'd forgotten to lock. Fuck. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her like this. He'd been pulling more than his fair share of weight, keeping this place together with the death of Bernard, trying to keep her together with the death of both Bernard and Seth. She pulled herself and, with the assistance of walls and furniture to lean on on the way, managed to come into view. She knew if he saw her stagger, it would be less likely for him to leave, so she stayed by the door to the bedroom and just leaned against the wall there.

" 'm here, an 'm fine. You should get some rest, Apoc'lyspe."

[carcinoGeneticist]

There was no sign of the woman, and for a moment Apocalypse felt somewhat panicked. What if something had happened to her? The deeper he walked into the room, the stronger the odor of alcohol seemed to get, and he wrinkled his nose. Damnit. Damnit, Heilyn, she had promised that she'd be fine, even without him by her side to make sure she didn't go to the bottle! What if she'd passed out? What if she'd hit her head when she had? That thought actually frightened him, and he walked towards the room that the children were usually sleeping in, the one that was supposed to be Seth's.

The sound of movement made him pause, his eyes bright with concern as Heilyn came into view. He could tell she was propping herself up on the door, could tell that she was trying to hide something from him.

It wasn't like it was something that was difficult for him to guess at, and her slurred greeting did little to change his mind in that regard. For a second, a furious scowl crossed his face, but it quickly eased into something more gentle as he stepped forward.

"It's alright, Lyn." He said gently, almost offering his forgiveness with that statement. He slipped a hand around her waist, letting her loop her arm around his neck and leading her to her bed. If she tried to protest, he'd just pull her a little more firmly against his body and ignore her quiet grumbling. She needed to get some sleep. This close, he could smell the alcohol even more powerfully. There was no point in berating a drunk woman who had lost so much in so short a time, and so he said nothing about her drinking. He just helped her into her bed, slowly easing the blankets around her, running one hand across her brow and pushing her bangs aside so that he could kiss it softly. "What are we gonna do with you, love?" He whispered as he sat beside her on the bed, looking down at her.

"Do you want me to stay for a little while?"

[Satra]

Heilyn made an odd noise as he lead her into the bedroom. She wanted to protest, but she was too tired, too defeated. She fought him weakly, but ended up exactly were Pale had lead her. She plopped down when he pushed her, then looked up at him and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She lowered her head to look at her lap then shook her head, "I... tried. I did." She felt herself begin to shake. "You don't have to, Apocalypse. It may not look like it, but I know how much you've been doing for everyone. You don't need to waste time on me. You need rest. I can manage..."

[carcinoGeneticist]

A part of the man was very abruptly angry. Specifically, it was angry at Seth. He knew it was pointless, feeling rage towards a dead man, but... Heilyn was the strongest woman - no, the strongest person - Apocalypse had ever met. There was a reason that he'd gone out of his comfort zone and asked her if she would act as his mother in his new-found life. Seeing her like this caused him deep emotional pain, made his breath catch in his throat.

It was so damn easy to blame that on a dead man, especially when he was sure that the Bat should have been there. The Bat should be helping to raise his own damn children, the Bat should be helping his wife through the loss of Bernard.

But he wasn't. He was dead.

The movement barely perceptible, the man's brows furrowed. Then he eased his arms around Heilyn's waist, pulling her down into the bed and curling protectively around her. "I'm not doing it out of the goodness of my heart," he said lightly, teasingly. "I'm just trying to get you all wrapped around my little finger before I take over the world. No, Lyn, shit, I want to help you. If you could manage without me, you wouldn't smell like a distillery, now would you?" She was important to him.

He couldn't sit back and watch her self-destruct. But what could he do...?

[Satra]

Heilyn gladly allowed Pale to wrap himself around her. She bit her lip to suppress a whimper.

"Apocalypse, I... I just... I don't know." Her hands balled into fists and she pressed her forehead against his chest. She was so very, very sick of the crying, but a harsh sob escaped her. Her legs came up to make her body curl up. She hated this feeling of helplessness. So many people were gone, taken away from her, and there was nothing she could do. She felt empty, and it was eating away at her. It was unbearable. She felt broken on top of empty. She never acknowledged it openly, but Seth and the family he'd provided her had been the center of her world. The very next person had been Bernard. He had been so much of her daily routine...

She babbled something incoherently as she broke down into tears.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Even with his nose buried in her hair, his arms wrapped tightly around her, Apocalypse knew there was nothing he could do to protect her from the pain she was feeling. That made him feel helpless, sad, angry. She was... She was his mother, damn it, and he couldn't soothe her pain. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to save her life, truth be told, and watching her self-destruct as she was was hurting him more than he knew how to say.

He closed his eyes tightly as his attempt at humor hit the bottom with a resounding crash. One hand slipped along her back, fingers weaving through her hair and holding her close, gently stroking as a soft noise escaped him. It was a sad noise. "Shhh, love, it's alright. You don't need to know. Not yet."

So strong, so willful. That was Heilyn, in a nutshell. Now, she must have been at a complete loss. Seth was supposed to be here, damn it all, and he was supposed to soothe his wife and kiss her tears away. He knew that the man hadn't exactly had a choice in the matter, but... It was the kind of emotional response that was impossible to keep back. As soon as the Queen broke down, Apocalypse tensed, trying to say something to soothe her. Everything sounded hollow, empty. He couldn't understand the loss she'd experienced, he couldn't even pretend to.

A conversation he'd had with Spekkio in days prior came back to him slowly, and he tensed. Would it work? Could he convince her...? With how emotional she was and how much alcohol she'd taken in, it might have been the best chance. The only chance, he reflected a moment later, activating the ability.

To Heilyn, it would no longer be Apocalypse wrapped protectively around her. It would be someone shorter, bulkier, ... hairier. The voice that soothed her now wasn't the pale man's, either. "I know you can keep it together, Lyn. You've got to. Those babies - they need you, since I can't be there to take care of them." One thumb brushed across her cheek, and then lips pressed against her forehead. Apocalypse tried not to tremble as he moved, the spell sucking his energy away at an alarming rate. "Where's the woman I fell in love with, huh? C'mon, Lyn... It's okay. You're gonna be okay.[/b]"

Apocalypse felt very strongly that he was going to go to Hell for this one. But if it helped Heilyn... He would make that sacrifice.


Voice Mimicry
Once a day, he is able to call forth an ability for a full ten minutes. This ability allows him to perfectly mimic the voice of any Card he has known and befriended (term applies loosely, but still must apply. It could also apply to people who were friends once, but are no longer) for more than a year.
Including inflection, he is able to mimic everything from personality defaulted tone, to depth and emotional sensation he doesn't even feel.
If he truly cares for the person, he can also induce the feeling of their body imposed over his own for a full five minutes, though he will be rendered exhausted afterward, if he should choose to.
This ability does not work on Cards ranked 3 or lower or on Jokers.

[Satra]

Initially she did not notice the change in his body. The voice, however, she did. Her entire body tensed and her breath stopped for a moment.

"Seth..." she whimpered and clung to his chest. She stifled her sobbing as best as she could. He had to hear his voice. She could miss a word... For all her despair, she couldn't help but feel a small pang of shame.

"Oh Go', Seth... I know. Th' chil'ren. I wishu coul' see them," she looked up at him, emotion and intoxication making her almost incoherent. Through her tears and the alcohol and in the dark, the image was close enough, "I will... for them... I know... I jus'... you bastard. How coul' you break me li'e this?"

She didn't seem to remember the rest of what Pale had said. She returned to incoherency and uncontrollable sobbing. A few words could be made out in the babble that followed. "Love" and "You" being the most common.

After a long time, she finally fell asleep. Her wet, red, blotchy face was not set in the repose that could be seen on those drifted away in peaceful slumber. She was still shivering, but finally asleep.

Her Weapon saw fit to summon herself into existence. She sat on the bed next to them and gave him a meaningful look.

"I can stay with her tonight, if you want to sleep in your own bed," she whispered softly.

[carcinoGeneticist]

There was a moment of tenseness, while Apocalypse waited to see if his ability would have worked at all on the woman.

It did. He should have felt relief as she began to cling even more tightly to him, whimpering the name of her dead husband. It was what she'd needed, he thought, a little poke to encourage her to keep the prize in her sight. Whatever that prize was. But as Heilyn started to babble, emotions pouring out over him, Apocalypse started to shake. This was wrong. As much as it was helping her, he felt as though he was crossing some line. Of course, there was no one he could ask about that - he was fairly certain it was a line that no one had crossed before.

But it was too late to pull back now. "I know, babe, I know. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to give you something. Y'know, like you gave me so many times." He smoothed back her hair, then kissed her forehead, trying to ignore how very much his voice didn't sound like himself. Everything about it was Seth, and that was weird. "I didn't want to leave you. 'm sorry.[/b]"

The man did his best to reply to the babbled words, but before long, the spell faded. It took too much out of him, and a heaviness unlike any he'd ever felt before settled into his limbs. He shhh-ed her, pressing her face against his chest, his body curled protectively around hers. And then it was done, and the woman was asleep. The albino swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. Would he be able to leave? He needed to sleep, but he knew that Heilyn - she needed him, too. The man started to chew his lip, but then Spekkio appeared.

Slowly and carefully, he disentangled himself from the sleeping woman, giving the Weapon a slight nod. "Please." He replied. "That was... that was hard. I hope it helps." Shaking lightly from the effort it took, the man leaned forward and kissed the girl, his eyelids slipping shut.

[Satra]

She leaned forward and kissed him back. The emotional wear the evening had taken on him was obvious.

"It did. I know it may not look like it, but it did. Thank you. I couldn't do this without you," she held his face in her hands and pressed her forehead against his, then she let him go. "I'll take it from here. You just get some rest. I'll keep you updated, you just tell me when and how you can help. Thank you again. Sleep well, Apocalypse."

As to not risk waking her up, Spekkio did not move Heilyn's body. Instead she simply folded the blanket over her then gently moved her head to put a pillow underneath it. She softly pet Heilyn's head and watched Pale leave. She took one of the larger pillows and put it next to Heilyn so she could grab onto it then desummoned herself. Heilyn's mind needed the tending.