CHAPTER FOUR ♔ does it run in your blood to betray the ones you love

[coldheritage]

♬ The Truth - Nonpoint

WHO || Failboat, Rafael, Isabella, Nadia  [Closed]
WHAT || After an exciting Grammy night, the Knights meet up with Nadia to hear what she has to say
WHERE || Staples Center, LA -->  Warehouse
WHEN || Feb 8th, 2015  [back dated]
HOW || Actionspam

[  The Knights' mission to stop the signal and prevent Draken's cult from spreading whatever subliminal message  was lurking beneath Keijen Blade's performance was a success.  It didn't come without its bumps in the road, however:  Alexander Anderson showed up, and the Knights ran afoul of the Mind Master.    Buffy nearly died fighting Anderson, but in the end, he was defeated, beheaded, and hopefully put to death forever.   Finnick, though, found himself thrust into a mental illusion that convinced him he might still be in the Hunger Games, and left him uncertain about whether any of his life here was real.  

Another surprise came in the form of an announcement by Nadia Reichenov, an artist working with Crombe and company, that she was changing her band name and taking things in a 'new direction'.   This direction was perhaps revealed when after her performance, she approached the Knights in Rafael's dressing room - and handed them the necklace that connects her to the Nightmare God Malaak'a, saying she was willing to tell them everything.  ]

Comments

[65]

[on that note, finnick is gonna run to the bathroom and try to lock himself in. there are too many feelings that he's not (and never really has been let's be real) emotionally stable enough to deal with all this and she won't stop prodding at him and it's just bad news.]

[graveflowers]

[ after a brief panic that maybe he is going to jump out the fucking window, vi decides to just sit on the floor across from the bathroom, bringing a pillow with her to hug against her chest.

he doesn't need to be a contributing member of this conversation. ]

I know nightmares, Fish. I don't care if you think I'm not real or not. We all think we're real, so I'm going to be the easiest person to deal with and we both know it. [ that makes sense to her, but she sees it from a 'this is my best friend and of course i will the easiest to deal with' type of mind set. but vi is also the biggest enabler of finnick's horrible coping mechanisms, especially in winter when she can barely control her own emotions, much less cope with them.

her head tips back, the thud punctuating her point in the brief silence before she continues. ] I want to help. I don't want you to feel like this, but... I don't know how to wake you up.

[ and if she could, if he really were dreaming and she could wake him up, she would. she would rather leave him here with his happiness than send him back to that hell, but she knows better than to dwell in dreams. ]

[65]

[her words are met with the promising noise of ... nothing. there's not any other noise coming from the bathroom like idk water running or him rummaging around for shit to kill himself with, so it's not like immediate red flag bust down the door silence (for... now..........) so that's ... good-ish i guess.]

[graveflowers]

[ ♪ salted wound -- sia ]

Do you want anything to eat?

[ simple questions now. ]

[65]

Not hungry.

[graveflowers]

Something to drink?

[65]

No.

[graveflowers]

[ more silence. she's not even going to speak up again, just sit there until finnick talks or the rest of the group comes back. well, she gets up to get her phone so she can keep in contact, but then she just sits down again. she can wait. ]

[65]

[after a million years, finnick talks at the bathroom door without actually opening it back up] I want coffee.

[graveflowers]

[ after a moment: ] Manners.

[65]

Three sugars.

[graveflowers]

I'm asking you to say please. Do you want anything to eat? [ a beat. ] Nevermind.

[ and then she uses her cellphone to call the front desk to request a coffee the way finnick likes it and an entire bowl of sugar cubes. ]

Don't ask questions, it's for Finnick Odair. And bring a pot of English Afternoon tea, please. With cream.

[ another pause. ]

It's on it's way.

[65]

... Thanks. [gonna go lay on the bathroom floor and cry now while waiting.]

[graveflowers]

[ she just makes a noise of acknowledgment, somehow resisting the urge to call the team for an update. (will save 30) she'll be fine. she can deal with her broken best friend all by herself. this is fine. this is easy. yep, she's doing great. a+

a few minutes later, the hospitality guy knocks on the door and vi hollers "come in" without moving an inch from where she's sitting and so he does, bringing a tray with a tea pot and cup, a cup of coffee, and a small bowl of sugar cubes alongside a small creamer.

vi has him set it down next to her and says thank you before he leaves, at which point she kicks her foot out to nudge the door. ]

It's here.

[65]

Okay. [finnick doesn't get up to unlock the bathroom door. he feels too dead inside to move. he obviously expects vi to pick the lock or manhandle it open, i guess. or maybe he'll just get his coffee someday 50 years from now.]

[graveflowers]

[ she pours her own tea and waits for it to cool before she kicks the door again. ]

I heard you lock it. You're gonna have to unlock it if you want the coffee. I'm not gonna kick it down.

[65]

I can't move.

[graveflowers]

Don't be melodramatic, it's not funny. I'm not a real cleric, if you're paralyzed I'll have to call Jack to send Myri back or take you to a hospital.

[65]

No! No. No. No.

[graveflowers]

Then open the door. I'm just-- I'm just a figment of your imagination, but I'm the one least likely to give you any shit.

[65]

[after the longest pause ever on earth, he gets up, unlocks the door, and barely cracks it open. and then goes back to sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the bathtub.]

[graveflowers]

[ once the door is open, she lumbers to her knees and pushes it open a bit more so she can a. see him and b. slide the sugar cubes to him. also the coffee. but that comes second. ]

Okay?

[65]

[he looks pathetically tearstained and broken, but otherwise ... ok i guess. he doesn't move towards her or the sugar cubes though.]

Thanks.

[graveflowers]

[ it's like looking into a mirror because she knows she's looked like that before. he looks how she feels. she doesn't try to coax him into conversation again, it feels cruel to her. like forcing him to acknowledge her is playing into whatever the mind master did to him. instead she aimlessly stirs her tea, wishing it was that tea luthir used to make for her. ]