Not The News I'd Hoped to Share [End]

[carcinoGeneticist]

At the gentle reminder to leave his damn lip alone, Apocalypse gave her an almost-playful frown, the closest he could get to teasing at the current moment. Then he leaned in and kissed it softly, his attention focusing back on the woman he was escorting to his home.

The mix of emotions on her face was not at all unexpected, and Apocalypse didn't even flinch. It had all happened so quickly that he himself hadn't really had a chance to acknowledge how fucked up it had been, but looking back it was extremely strange. But it had happened. Bernard had died, he had sliced a man's leg off with nothing more than his claws, and then they'd had to fish a boy out of the gut of a horse-weasel beast. That part was something he decided was better left unmentioned. A small shiver went through him as he did his best to get comfortable, the memory of the fight making him ache again.

Her next statement, however, actually brought a smile to the man's face. Then he laughed quietly, and there was none of the sadness of before in the sound. The gentle touch against his hands felt nice and he managed not to flinch when she found some stiffness in his muscles there. "I know you're joking, but really, it's good to see you again. I just wish it could be under better circumstances." Staring down at their hands, another thought crept into the man's head.

"...If there's anything else you'd wanted to do that involves my hands, now is the time." The words and his tone were teasing and playful, almost flirtatious, but the look on his face was anything but. "I fell on the wrong side of some old and powerful magic. As long as I can smell roses in the air... Well. Let's just say that my teeth and my hands start to look like they belong to something less human than the rest of me."

[Nako]

Something... less human? The smile that had crept its way onto her face turned into a frown as her brows raised questioningly. Well, she had a feeling she'd find out as soon as they found their way into the Highlands.. or at least where there were roses. "I thought they looked sore." Zuberi mentioned, now examining his hands more closely. "But thank you for letting me know. I'm not sure how well I can be taking surprises today." And his teeth.. she wasn't sure how much scarier -those- could get.

Well... then. Maybe she could.

"Will I get to see the children today? And Heilyn" She wasn't sure which would be harder to look at; the faces of Seth's children, or the battered one of his widow. Still, it'd do no good prolonging the inevitable; she wanted to just... jump into what needed to be done, to distract herself.

[carcinoGeneticist]

The teeth, Apocalypse didn't mind. He'd been brought into the world with them, some strange manifestation of Rhiannon's mind that he'd found with time that he rather liked. They were useful, after all, in a way that standard human chompers fell tragically short. Those damn claws were a different story. They took away something he treasured more than anything else - the ability to reach out and touch another person.

So he let that show through now, reaching out to lightly brush his fingers across Zuberi's cheek. "I'd rather let you know now than have you cringe away from me when it happens." He said in a soft voice, slowly turning to stare back at the floor of the carriage.

Then he blinked, glancing back at her. "If you'd like, I'm sure it can be arranged." He said after a moment, scratching the back of his head somewhat nervously. Heilyn's condition hadn't been good, and part of him was worried he'd return to 5 dead children and one locked-up Queen. He didn't expect that would happen, but one just couldn't ever really be sure. "It depends a lot on what time we get in tonight."

He moved closer, almost snuggling against her side, his head resting against hers as his eyes slipped shut. Then he sighed softly. Hopefully things were going to start getting better soon.

[Nako]

"Oh.. okay. Dat's understandable." Zuberi said with a sigh. Perhaps she was getting too ahead of herself. She was coming to the Courts to help, but she wasn't the only one having to make adjustments. She'd have to work on not only her schedule, but the schedules of everyone else as well.

With Apocalypse so close to her, and the rhythmic motions of the carriage, Zuberi found her own eyes shutting as well. With the emotional drain of anguish and her own difficulty sleeping, Zuberi found herself falling asleep.

A jolt of the wagon woke her up, giving a soft half-snore as a hand came up to rub her eyes. She'd slept restlessly, plagued by a smug face enshrouded in blue hair. Damnit. She looked around, trying to clear her blurry vision by blinking rapidly. "Hnn... Are we there yet?"

[carcinoGeneticist]

There was something about the tone of voice used by the woman that filled Apocalypse with a sense of regret, and he knew she would have preferred to hear that she could see the children as soon as she arrived. He hadn't wanted to give her a false hope, however, which had kept him from making any promises in the first place. Gently, he drew his fingers through her hair, just holding her until he felt her body go limp as sleep took her. Then he turned his head to lightly press his lips against her head.

Another sigh escaped him. All he could do at this point was make an attempt at falling asleep himself.

Normally, the first time he shared a bed with someone new, he was unable to sleep soundly. There was something about the sensation of being so close with an unfamiliar body that kept his brain spinning. The night he'd spent with Zuberi before, however, he'd slept like a baby. Today, no matter what he did, his mind couldn't shut down. He gave up at some point, instead just focusing on making his body as comfortable a pillow for her as he could manage and staring out the window.

When they reached the court, Apocalypse moved with Zuberi, shifting to glance at her as she stirred. "Yep. We made good time. Shall we get you moved in and comfortable, then?" He knew what was going to happen the second he took a deep breath of the rose-heavy air. He might as well put that strength boost to good use.

[Nako]

Tussling her pink locks to wake herself up, she gave one last yawn and gave a nod as the carriage finally came to a stop. Getting off her tailbone would be a blessing. Even though the seats were sufficiently padded, any ride that went from one side of the territories to the other would cause a bit of soreness.

With Charlie securely tucked under one arm, Zuberi descended from the carriage and onto the ground with the help of a servant that came to her aid. Well, it was certainly better than falling on her face, which would have been a likely thing to happen since she could hardly see her feet in the shape she was in.

"How far from Heilyn's apartment will I be, do you know?" Zuberi inquired, turning around as Apocalypse exited the vehicle. She certainly hoped it wouldn't be too terribly long of a walk. She'd been somewhat close last time, but goodness knows if someone had started working in the Courts and needed the space.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Things progressed about as Apocalypse knew they would. The assistant helped Zuberi off the coach, and then the King followed behind her. He raised his head and took a deep breath, his eyebrows furrowing as the thick, sweet smell he'd once loved filled his lungs. It had happened often enough that he was no longer caught by surprise and simply stood as his hands shifted, glancing down at Zuberi with a slightly awkward shrug. It would be impossible for her not to notice his other battle wound now. When each finger was as long as his were, the absence of two from his left hand would be rather obvious.

"Well, there's the next question." He said softly, deciding to let the woman bring up his hands if she wanted. Otherwise, he'd do his damnedest to ignore them. He hefted some of her bags easily, then turned his attention back on her. Damn, he was sore, but... He didn't want to show it. Weakness didn't appeal to the man, especially not when it was his own weakness. "We actually have a few units that are currently unoccupied. One of them... There was a small room attached to Heilyn's that you could stay in if you wanted. Seth..."

The man trailed off. It had been intended as Seth's private room, and it had always gone unused. He wasn't sure if Zuberi wanted to hear that, however, so he continued on. "That'd be closest to her. There's also the one you stayed in and one that's closer to myself and Xiven. We want you to be as comfortable as possible, I know you're not fond of how stuffy it is here so anything I can do to help, just let me know."

[Nako]

Oh yes, the hands were disconcerting; and he was missing fingers on one hand; she assumed that it was from the fight and therefore decided not to bring it up. She'd almost protested when he hefted her bags up, but in retrospect decided not to say anything. Men were stupid when it came to pride, and he was able to do with with such ease that she assumed that there was also some level of magical strength that went with his new hands.

"The room I was in last time would be fine. I want to be near, but not underfoot." And she wasn't entirely comfortable living in a way that quite literally was -with- Heilyn, which would be the case if she lived connected to the woman. Certainly she'd be able to sleep there if Heilyn needed her, but Zuberi -had- to have a room that was just for herself. After living so long in solitude, she was certain she wouldn't be able to give up some amount of hermitty behavior overnight.

She actually managed to remember the way there, walking in stride with the man till they reached the door. The doorman had given them the key to the room, which she used to unlock it and let the man in so he'd be able to set down her things.

It had that... astringent smell again. She frowned, but said nothing about it but instead went to open a window. The smell of the gardens was certainly better than the smell of cleaning products.

Turning to the strange, huge-handed man, she offered a small smile "Thank you."

[carcinoGeneticist]

As much as it would have been nice to have the woman close to himself, he could understand her desire to put some distance between them. She probably wanted to interfere with the daily life of the court as little as possible, something which he might have thanked her for had he been in a better mental state. Right now, all he wanted to do was slip into a warm bath to soak his limbs and then sleep. As for Heilyn... she imagined the woman wouldn't mind the space very much, either.

She probably didn't want other people to know that it was hard for her to sleep unless Apocalypse curled around her, holding her until she finally drifted off, as Seth had once done.

"Alright. We'll get you all settled in, then." Before he started to walk beside her to the room he lightly brushed his shoulder against hers, attempting to give her a reassuring smile. After all, she was doing him a favor, and he knew he wasn't the best of company at the moment. When they reached the room he waited patiently for her to unlock the door, stepping in and setting her bags to the side of the bed that would be hers for as long as she chose to stay. He watched her move to open the windows, his head inclining curiously to the side as soon as she looked back at him.

Another smile graced his face, this one fuller somehow. "...Of course. Is there anything else I can do to make you more comfortable? If you'd like, I can stay here for a while. I don't mind."

[Nako]

"Actually," It was only after a few moments of hesitation that she responded, looking to the pale man with one hand on her belly and the other one on the bag that held her things. "I think it's best that I be gettin' settled. It's been a long day, and you no doubt have things to tend to."

How could he -not- have something to do? He was a King of Hearts, with goodness knows what kind of responsibilities and multiple injured Queens to look after. Besides.. she had things to unpack, and a voodoo doll's crotch to stab.

It was with much certainty that she decided that alone time was definitely what she needed. As wonderful as the support was from her strange Bog friend, she was used to only so much comfort and social interaction before she was allowed to curl away into her shell once more.

And curl up is exactly what she wanted to do; she'd upheld her duty and arrived at the Palace, but since there was too late for her to meet the offspring, it would be put off until tomorrow.

Zuberi wouldn't leave him so coldly though; she moved closer and gave a soft kiss to whatever part of his face looked the least sore. "Be sure to take a bath when you get the time; it does wonders for aches and pains."