Allison Argent (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theresalwayshope) wrote2015-05-28 11:47 am
theresalwayshope) wrote2015-05-28 11:47 am
33) will i ever hear your voice again? the darkness is like an old friend...
[Spam-ish - OPEN]
[When Allison returns to the Barge, she's happier than she's ever been. Paris was a perfect vacation, she's loaded down with new clothes, shoes, food, and souvenirs...and she's spent several days of her week in a luxurious borrowed bed with Isaac wrapped around her like a blanket.
She goes looking for her people, but they don't all show up right away. She waits to check on people as they seem to pop back in clusters, scans the network, and settles in to the task of unpacking, tending her animals...she has plenty to keep her busy.
As the hours wear on, however, she feels a growing sense of...something. She can't put her finger on it, but there's something that's just not right.
She sleeps on it. The trip was fun, but exhausting in a good way. Sliding into a new satin sleep shirt she got at a boutique in Paris, she curls up in bed with Brownie tucked against her back and Duchess curled against her chest.
It's the perfect end to a perfect trip.
In the morning, she walks the ship looking for the pack. Every scent she finds without a problem, every heartbeat, every voice...all but one.
She's not ready for what she finds when she reaches Isaac's cabin.
There's no announcement. No message on the network, no text to those that know and love him.
Mid morning, the only word that anyone gets about Isaac's departure is the soul-shattering howl of a werewolf in mourning.
She's a nonentity on the ship that day. For a while, at least, Allison stays huddled in the corner of Isaac's abandoned cabin, sobbing openly. Later, if no one's found her there, she will flee down to Zero, where she can be found tucked into the furthest corner of the farmost cell with the door standing open. She'll no longer be weeping openly, but as she stares at the nearest wall, tears continue to spill silently from her eyes as she tries to make the open wound in her chest start healing.
Duke is gone, and she's coped. Zane is gone, and she had Duchess to hold onto, to make that loss easier to bear.
Isaac, however, is gone...she can feel that he's gone, and she can't bear it because she let him in so much further than she had before she arrived on the Barge.
Forgetting life with him is so much harder. It hurts that much more to carve him out of herself...to believe in a world without his constant, comforting warmth until she gets her deal and she can go home.
She has to stitch that hole back up and eliminate everything he gave to her here...because it's the only way she's going to be able to keep going without him.]
[When Allison returns to the Barge, she's happier than she's ever been. Paris was a perfect vacation, she's loaded down with new clothes, shoes, food, and souvenirs...and she's spent several days of her week in a luxurious borrowed bed with Isaac wrapped around her like a blanket.
She goes looking for her people, but they don't all show up right away. She waits to check on people as they seem to pop back in clusters, scans the network, and settles in to the task of unpacking, tending her animals...she has plenty to keep her busy.
As the hours wear on, however, she feels a growing sense of...something. She can't put her finger on it, but there's something that's just not right.
She sleeps on it. The trip was fun, but exhausting in a good way. Sliding into a new satin sleep shirt she got at a boutique in Paris, she curls up in bed with Brownie tucked against her back and Duchess curled against her chest.
It's the perfect end to a perfect trip.
In the morning, she walks the ship looking for the pack. Every scent she finds without a problem, every heartbeat, every voice...all but one.
She's not ready for what she finds when she reaches Isaac's cabin.
There's no announcement. No message on the network, no text to those that know and love him.
Mid morning, the only word that anyone gets about Isaac's departure is the soul-shattering howl of a werewolf in mourning.
She's a nonentity on the ship that day. For a while, at least, Allison stays huddled in the corner of Isaac's abandoned cabin, sobbing openly. Later, if no one's found her there, she will flee down to Zero, where she can be found tucked into the furthest corner of the farmost cell with the door standing open. She'll no longer be weeping openly, but as she stares at the nearest wall, tears continue to spill silently from her eyes as she tries to make the open wound in her chest start healing.
Duke is gone, and she's coped. Zane is gone, and she had Duchess to hold onto, to make that loss easier to bear.
Isaac, however, is gone...she can feel that he's gone, and she can't bear it because she let him in so much further than she had before she arrived on the Barge.
Forgetting life with him is so much harder. It hurts that much more to carve him out of herself...to believe in a world without his constant, comforting warmth until she gets her deal and she can go home.
She has to stitch that hole back up and eliminate everything he gave to her here...because it's the only way she's going to be able to keep going without him.]
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
It's not. It...[Her breath catches, and when she tries to speak again her voice is thick with tears.]...belonged...to someone that didn't come back with us from Paris.
Someone I love. My b--[Her boyfriend? It doesn't sound right anymore. He's her touchstone, her tether. He's sunshine in the dark and still water in the desert. He's all the hope she ever gave up on, a skin graft on the wound losing Scott left behind: a patch at first, and now as much a part of her as her right arm.]
--my...Isaac.
Re: [Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Looks like Isaac left in a hurry.
So your plan is...what?
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Plan?...
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
[God, he's really not good at the whole comfort thing. He just wants Allison to stop making such a racket next door while he's still getting settled]
Where's your dog?
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Pain. Alone. Hide, heal, kill, feed. Pain. Pain. Pain.
The terse question hits the right button to keep the animal at bay, at least for a moment, touching the hunter's instincts her family drilled into her: deal with the situation, clinically and without attachment.
Alone. Pain. Alone. Pain.
Shutting gold eyes, her features twist with a fresh sob she stifles, burying her face in her hands.
A moment later, a muffled response tears free from her throat.]
My cabin.
[Thread the needle. Focus.
Pain. Hurts. Pain.
Take control and make a plan of action. A plan, what's the plan?]
She's--she's in my cabin...I-I walked her this morning. Before...
[She lifts her head from her hands, sniffling and hiccuping...but she's trying to swallow the tears, to shove the pain back and focus on what he's saying, figuring out the plan.
She has people relying on her.]
I walked her. I-I fed her. And-and Duchess.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
It's afternoon now. You walk the dog once or twice a day?
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
[Because Brownie gets out when Allison takes her and Duchess with her to...]
...the pub. [The words catch on another sob that tries to get out, but one she actively tries to shut down.] I-I have to...I mean I-I run it. I--
[She cuts herself off, snarling as she digs the heels of her hands into her eyes, still flowing freely with tears. The snarl isn't a human sound: it's a wild dog about to rip out the throat of its prey, but she doesn't make a move towards him.
The anger is directed at herself...where it belongs.
Pain. Alone. Pain.
Thread the needle. Focus.
Pain. Hurts. Alone.
She shakes her head, another sob shaking her shoulders.]
I can't...I can't, I can't...
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
He ignores the snarling. Her bark's worse than her bite, but he'd still rather not push her beyond the limits of what she can take]
Who runs the pub when you're not around to do it?
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
[She finally, really focuses on his face...the hand at his temple, the coolly composed expression despite the growing agitation she can now smell on the air. Her eyes flare a little brighter, but the feeling that crawls out of the gaping hole in her heart is human. For just a second, she looks reasonably steadier as she catches his eye.]
You don't have to be here. [There's nothing self pitying in her tone. It's quiet, practical, even gentle.] You barely know me.
[She's still too fractured to realize his motivations for trying to calm her down might be self-serving, too upset to realize she might have been disturbing anyone. It's equal parts animal awareness and some forgotten scrap of innocence, but all she sees is someone trying to help, someone that doesn't have to.
She shouldn't need help. Like that first terrifying night, escaping from the ropes her own father bound her with, she should be able to free herself from this loss on her own.]
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Still, there's something of Lisa in her. Not the lack of morals, but maybe the threat of something bigger lurking under the surface. Girls who could Kick Ass. Snart could respect that.]
You're next door to what I'm guessing is my new home. And seeing as I'm the new inmate around here, yeah; I think I do have to be here.
So the way I see it, I figure you've a choice right now, concerning your pub responsibilities. You can call one of your warden friends down to do it for you, or I can walk you down and you can get me that drink I've been needing for the last two hours.
[he extends his hand]
Your decision.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
That outstretched hand.
Hurts. Pain...
...mine?
She doesn't even realize how closed off she's been to letting other people in until the wolf sees that offered hand the same way she does: a chance to not be alone, a scrap of comfort to help her cling to sanity. She's starting to realize that maybe he doesn't see it that way...but he's right. He's an inmate.
Maybe this is part of why he's here.
She's not aware of taking his hand: she just blinks and her fingers are wrapped around his, clinging for dear life, just on the safe side of too hard.
Shaking her head a little, she uses the hand after just holding on for a moment and lets him help her to her feet. She scrubs at her face with her free hand one more time, unable to make herself let go of his fingers.]
Thank you.
[It's a whisper, but audible...and, to her credit, she resists the urge to hug him.
But she's not letting go of his hand any time soon.]
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't remind him so damn much of his baby sister. Tears and sobbing, little girls crying; that, he thought was well behind him. He'd made himself into an unforgiving wall of unemotional detachment.
Guess he was stuck with her for the time being.
But just as Allison had her wolf pack, he had his own. Snart had always run in crews, but lately he was starting to build something newer and more special. Mick and Lisa, and he had an eye on a few new ones. His Rogues. They were family, and he'd do anything for family.
He pulled Allison to her feet, and allowed her to continue holding his hand, pleased that there wasn't anyone around to comment on it]
Don't mention it.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
When they get to the pub door, Allison fumbles in her pocket with her free hand for her phone, which doubles as her warden item. Tapping it to the door, she finally, reluctantly releases Cold's hand to turn the knob and admit them both inside.]
The, uh...the last warden that ran the pub kept some good stuff around. [Her voice catches on the words as she thinks of Duke, her eyes welling anew as she quietly shuffles behind the bar, trying to move and act instead of thinking and feeling.]
What are you drinking?
Re: [Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
He's not thrilled about the hand-holding - the need for a sterner reputation worries him about others seeing and taking advantage - but he puts up with it, deciding the benefits outweigh the risks for now. At the opening of the pub door, he lets her go and moves inside]
Just beer; cold.
[He won't drink heavily while still trying to figure things out]
Nice place you've got here.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
[Her voice is still wet with tears, but as she focuses on moving...the act of moving to the fridge under the counter, pulling out a cold longneck, finding the bottle opener...the tears stand unshed in her eyes now, only occasionally spilling free to be furiously wiped away with the back of her hand.]
Duke Crocker, he, uhm...he used to be a warden here. He was gone before you got here. [Unable to find the bottle opener and swallowing an irrational surge of frustration that would only lead to more tears, she finally extends her claws, punctures the cap, and pops it off before she slides the bottle over to him.]
He used to run a bar and grill back home, though, so he took operating this place seriously. I took over for him to make sure it was...taken care of.
[For a second, she just stands there, then finally folds her arms along the edge of the bar and leans against it across from Cold.]
I--since he left, I--[She cuts herself off as she feels the promise of tears again.
Hurts. Alone.
Thread the needle. Stick to the plan. You need a plan.
Taking a deep breath as she lets her gaze drop for a moment, she waits until she's steady again before she regards Cold anew.]
Did you leave anyone behind at home?
Re: [Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
He takes the offered beer with a nod, not commentating on the claw situation]
Thanks.
[He takes a sip, eyeing Allison over the bottom rim before setting it back down]
Don't explain it if you don't want to.
[For the first time, he's able to cooly evaluate his missing rogues. Mick and Lisa - were they all right? Did they get away in time?]
Couple of people. Hoping they might come around to break me out, but they've got their own problems.
[And he doesn't want to see his kid sister in any prison]
Still. Long as they stick together and they're smart, they'll do just fine.
[He hopes.]
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
She's a warden. He's an inmate. Being harder, being colder...it's at least more comfortable, if not a solution.]
You're here because you died, Cold. In your world...graduation gives you a second chance. To go back home, like nothing ever happened, look after your people...if you want to get back to them safely, you need to work the system.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
[His eyebrows go up, a little playfully. Snart sips from his drink]
And I bet you want me to give up my evil ways. Stop robbing people, stop lying, stop all my criminal exploits all at once, go cold turkey.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
I once helped my friends steal evidence in a federal homicide from an armored car, along with fifty thousand dollars that belonged to the yakuza. If robbery's your thing? Yeah, it's wrong, but I'm totally not judging.
...but lying? Yeah, less of that would probably be good. And if you hurt people...that's cold turkey, right there.
Re: [Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Sounds like a lot of fun to me. Wouldn't take you for the type, though, unless it was done out of protection for them. That's more your style, isn't it?
Can't hurt them much; no powers, no weapons. I'm as human as the next guy.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Not for Stiles, but for everyone.
And thinking about her friends, her pack...it stirs feelings that will only leave her on the floor and helpless again, so instead she considers his observation, rolling her eyes skyward for a second as she tips her head.
For the first time, she smiles. Just a little, but it's there.]
It was a little fun.
Anyway, human means nothing. A human with the right skills can be just as dangerous as any powered person. So...[She motions that she's watching him, but it's mild, with no real threat in it.
She's reasonably sure he's sharp enough to be dangerous, and he is an inmate. Still...she can't help it: she trusts him.]
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
And so much for downplaying his threat level - looks like just because he was human doesn't mean he's going to be overlooked.
He takes another sip of his beer]
You're right about that. But I don't believe in hurting people for no reason or benefit. Has to be a point to it all.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
She can't think about that right now: helping him, helping anyone, and immediately she feels guilty thinking of Tig.
Instead of commenting directly, she just manages a wan smile.]
Something tells me you'll find a shower in your cabin before you know it. [Her little smile grows as she ducks her head and shrugs.] Warden cabins have a private full bath, inmates have to use the communal showers. If you wake up one day with a full bath in your cabin? Means you've graduated.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
So no medal or certificate, then. I get a bathroom all to myself.
Lucky me.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]
Tip of the iceberg, Cold. You graduate, you can be a warden. The Admiral's someone who can give people literally anything they want. Bring people back from the dead, give you riches, even give you a brand new life. All you have to do is graduate an inmate the way someone will graduate you.
[In spite of her misery, she can't help but see the opportunity to drive home her point...so she does, holding his gaze.]
It's a simple plan: work the system, graduate, make a deal, get yourself an inmate...and start planning for their reform.
[Spam - Isaac's Abandoned Cabin]