glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

[behindcloseddoors]

See You Soon- Coldplay

WHO || Faye, Lila, Gold? [closed]
WHAT || Faye finally has a clue to Gold's location, and goes to confront him about his absence
WHERE || Glastonbury, England
WHEN || After this
HOW || Actionspam

[ Gold's been gone now for long enough to leave most people assuming that he isn't going to come back. Driven off by confirmation that he was, in fact, the Dark One from the Enchanted Forest by Gaston and Emma, the only indication that he's even alive came in a dream delivered to Belle, where he admitted that he was looking to understand more about this Dark One, perhaps seeking a way to refute the claims of the others. Plenty of people are worried, however, about what direction his search might take him. Others, however, are just plain pissed that he would abandon them without a word - and it's that anger that drove Faye to ally with GLADOS to discover that he was in Glastonbury, and with Lila's help enlist Zero to pinpoint his exact last known whereabouts, at a shitty motel. Together, the girls take a car and head out, hoping to find him once and for all.

There's only one car in the lot when they pull in, the VACANCY sign flashing forlornly above the office door. No lights are visible in any of the rooms, but a COKE machine provides some illumination, along with the lone pair of streetlamps that dully lighten the parking lot. ]

Comments

[bittersweeter]

I looked worse. You missed when I was cutting the singed ends from my hair earlier. That was awesome. [ it's almost lucky she chopped it all off willingly after shadow bermuda, because she would have had to do it unwillingly today in order to save the rest of her halo of white gold hair. ]

[doubletake]

[She sighs, visibly upset, and she shifts the chair closer to the bed before she leans forward.]

What the hell happened, Lila?

[bittersweeter]

Some fucked up fey. Fey the species not Faye the person. [ she pushes herself up a little, gently shifting faye's sleeping familiar to the side before reaching for the glass on her side table, sipping it slowly. ] Just another catastrophe mission in my run of catastrophe missions.

[doubletake]

At least you're in good hands.

[The clerics here were essentially literal miracle workers, after all.]

Hopefully I'm not interrupting your beauty rest.

[bittersweeter]

[ she snorts, bitterly amused. ] I like how you said rest instead of sleep. [ elena is legit. ] Every time I get comfortable I can feel it burning still. The distraction is fucking welcome, trust me.

[doubletake]

[The corner of her mouth quirks up briefly at that before her expression grows more serious again.]

I'm happy to help, then. And when you're better, we're going out and getting drunk. If that's something married women still do, I mean.

[bittersweeter]

Bitch, I'd be drinking right now if I could. [ also if she wasn't idly afraid of being fucking flammable. ] Married doesn't mean dead, it just means I get laid with more regularity than anyone else and someone calls me beautiful every single day.

[doubletake]

[She smirks a bit at that.]

Must be nice.

[She sits up straight again, her leg bouncing a bit where it crosses over the other.]

Then it's totally happening. Girls night. We can crash at my place downtown.

[bittersweeter]

Mmm, Sylar will like that. Last time girls night wound up at our place. Me, Faye, Astrid, and Alisha, all completely smashed. He loved it.

[doubletake]

Hopefully he didn't record anything too scandalous for future blackmail purposes.

[Though she's pretty sure none of the girls would give a fuq tho so she's really just joking.]

[bittersweeter]

[ cheerfully, though her smile is strained from lingering pain, ] I think he was too busy trying to suffocate himself with the pillow.

[ god, she loves him so much it's present in everything when she talks about him; her smile, the way she relaxes slightly, thumb running across the back of her ring to ground herself in it's presence. it's gross. ]

[doubletake]

You guys were that bad, hm?

[Elena doesn't find it that gross, tbh, and she certainly recognizes the motions for what they are. Lila isn't the first person she's known to fall hard for someone.

Also, roll a spot check, Lila.]

[bittersweeter]

[ once a year the queen of failed spot checks rolls well and it's today, i guess. (spot 20 total) ]

We found the karaoke app on the TV. [ four drunk ladies singing wrecking ball... sylar is a champ. ]

[doubletake]

[A little overkill, honestly, but as Elena lifts her right hand to tuck a lock of dark hair behind her ear with a chuckle, Lila will notice a ring on Elena's finger. It matches her outfit to a t, with her red blouse and her black leather pants and boots.]

Well, I'm expecting an encore performance. We'll even get to save Sylar's ears this time.

[bittersweeter]

Honestly, he'll probably be able to hear it from your place. [ those sensitive ears tho. ]

Where'd you get that bling? I didn't see that at the wedding. [ it's not lila's style, hers is much more classical and traditional -- she wears the same stuff literally every day -- but she scoops the resurrection diamond from inside her shirt, lifting it so elena can see the huge diamond and it's distinct red center like a drop of blood fell into it while it was being formed. ] We match, how fucking gay.

[doubletake]

No kidding? That's pretty intense.

[Her eyebrows raise before she glances at it, then back at her friend.]

Just an early Christmas present to myself. Maybe I got a little jealous of all the shiny things my friends were wearing.

[And then Lila pulls out the necklace and Elena leans forward to peer at it before grinning at her.]

I can think of worse people I could match.

[bittersweeter]

[ she breathes out a somewhat bitter laugh. ] I'm not sure everyone would agree with you on that.

[doubletake]

Look who you're talking to.

[They're such a pair.]

Besides, what was the phrase? Oh right. Fuck them.

[bittersweeter]

Throwing my words back at me, that's cute. [ but it prompts a more genuine smile, however small it may be. ]

It's just... I know I belong here. I am really, really good at what I do. I can literally break compulsion by talking. How many other people can say that? Sometimes it just exhausting knowing that there's a lot of people who look at me and think I don't belong here. Like no matter how many missions Wynn sends me on it's not enough. [ she sighs a little. ] God, I'm so tired I'm turning into a fucking emotional basket case, what the fuck.

[ she tries to be so strong for everyone else, to keep telling them that they belong and they're okay that she doesn't have anything left for herself. ]

[doubletake]

It's only fair.

[Elena listens quietly before she shifts out of the chair, sitting delicately on the edge of her bed before she shifts closer. Sorry if you didn't want some physical comfort, but Lila doesn't seem like she's going to be going anywhere fast and Elena is gonna mother the fuck out of her. Deal with it.

It's nothing too crazy, though she does put an arm around her shoulder and let her fingers gently stroke her hair.]

Unfortunately, being really good at something? It tends to only make people more wary. [This is a topic she knows only too well. And while she knows that Lila is no stranger to it, that doesn't mean Elena can't empathize.] If there's anything I've learned from all this, it's that some people will never think that.

Belonging here shouldn't be about how good you are at the job. You belong here because the people you consider family are here, and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know you and doesn't deserve to.

[bittersweeter]

[ ♪ hello cold world - paramore

having spent a lifetime in gloves in a world where touch is frowned up, lila is actually incredibly tactile, so she appreciates any sort of physical comfort. even if it makes her chest tighten and her lips press together against the pain stinging the backs of her eyes.

when elena brings up family lila sucks in a sharp breath, exhaling in a short puff. family has always been lila's number one priority, it was the only thing in her life for so long that had any importance. when she came through the veil she had to struggle to start over from nothing, lacking the generations old family she was born into, and for the most part she'd sucked at it. she had some successes, but for some people she couldn't be what they wanted her to be or needed her to be because she still clung to her family back home. she remembered her parents so clearly, even if she viewed them through the rose-colored glasses of distance, that she pushed away anything that came close to looking like they wanted to claim that spot. it was easier with faye and felicity and alex, they'd created parts of her family she'd never had before.

she wants to ask if family included elena but she doesn't. ]

Babchi used to tell me I would grow up and my heart would be a riddle. She didn't say it would be so hard to solve.

[doubletake]

If only everything worth doing were easy.

[She leans her head gently against Lila's, her breathing calm, as if she's trying to impart a similar feeling to the blonde.]

I don't think you're doing such a bad job, and you're allowed to feel any way you want to about it. Angry, frustrated, tired. I've felt them all too, and I'm not weaker for them, so don't think you need to hide them. I certainly won't think less of you for it.

[bittersweeter]

[ associating emotion with weakness is pretty much lila's m.o. and she's a hot emotional mess on the inside. it's why she's so good a lying, honestly, she can pick and choose which emotion to apply to whatever situation because she's literally feeling them all at the same time always and if she's using them to manipulate something it feels like control instead of weakness. ]

I'm just... tired. [ it's not just the fatigue that is present with her curse work, she's just genuinely exhausted by life. maybe david had been right, maybe she needs a break. but that feels like a weakness too and she refuses to acknowledge it. ] I'm so tired all the time.

[doubletake]

I was too. Why do you think I moved out?

[She very gently squeezes her shoulders, being careful not to harm her newly healed skin, just giving her the slightest pressure.]

There's nothing wrong with taking care of yourself, so get away for awhile, if that's what you need. Take a vacation or something.

[bittersweeter]

[ against elena her head shakes the tiniest bit. ]

I can't. I just-- Amara's here, I can't let her see me be weak. [ enjoy the complete lack of context for that explanation. ]