knightsoflegend | glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

[ ♪ 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.

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.

[ 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.

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.

[ 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. ]

That's the woman who's cursed, right?

[Knowledge Local 18]

Why does you taking a vacation matter to her? She's not going to run off or something, is she?

Yeah, with a love curse. And she doesn't think she's cursed, so when it breaks, one day, she's going to remember everything she did in startling clarity and hate herself. Everything is going to seem impossible and she's going to get pissed at herself because it's easier to be mad than to be completely ashamed of pretty much everything you've done. [ her exhale is shaky and slow. god, it's so much easier to be angry. ] I know, because I was cursed. And no one was around to tell me that I would be okay and I'm not doing that to her. So I have to be okay so that she'll know she can be okay, too.

[Elena listens quietly, and when Lila's done, Elena eases her a little closer this time, leaning her chin on top of her head.]

You're not weak, Lila. You're one of the strongest people I know. [She keeps brushing her fingers through her hair.] You'll be okay, too.

[Even if no one could tell her before, Elena could tell her now.]

Yeah, 'cause I have people now. Amara has no one. [ pale hands curl into fists, not because she's angry, but to press her nails into her palms. the sharp, steady pain seems to ground her. ] I'm not strong. I'm just a better liar than anyone realizes. If I was strong I could actually stand to be in the same room with her.

Sometimes knowing when to lie and being able to do it makes you strong, too.

[She rocks her gently from side to side.]

So does sacrificing pieces of yourself for someone else simply because you want to. But everyone has their limits, their breaking point. I don't want you to reach yours.

[ that actually reaches her. the first part. she'd lied her ass off to get amara to help herself and it was the single most sickening thing she'd ever done in her life this side of the veil (including shooting the man holding a hostage point blank and watching the hostage's brain splatter across the wall.) if amara forgave her for that gross manipulation, lila would be genuinely surprised. ]

Maybe I have. But if I break so she doesn't have to... I already hate myself, if I can do anything to stop her from feeling the same way, I don't care if I break every part of me. Sylar will put me back together again, just like he always does. The thought of her looking at herself the way I look at myself... I can't let that happen.

I'm the only proof she has that she'll be okay. [ because she's not just going to out david. she sits up a little straighter, wiping at her eyes, cool mask settling across her expression. ] I'll be fine, so she'll be fine.

[Elena looks down at her, a strange expression in her eyes, before she nods and leans her head against hers again.]

I'm glad you have him. But I hope someday you learn to love yourself the way he does.

[She runs her fingers through her hair another time or two, seeing Lila's mask settle into place, and she starts to shift, standing up from the bed.]

I have to go meet up with Vi. I'll swing by again before I head back downtown?

[ her lips twitch in what could be a passable smile if you squint. ] Yeah. See you.

glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

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