MHA #18; Saturday Evening [10/07].

[chef_chocobro]

Even though it seemed like this week had provided copious examples of attempts to the contrary, it turned out that Ignis actually couldn't spend all his spare time with Liliana and would, in fact, spend time with other people, too. Well, with the other person he spent all of his spare time with. He certainly wouldn't want to overstay his welcome, and they were both clearly the sort of people who had lives beyond the blissful bubble of each other's company that they'd come to discover and had other things to do that day...

...Well, it seemed Liliana did, anyway. Ignis...had a make-up training session to attend to to appease his roommate, after which there was to be take-out because he was quite frankly a little exhausted and wanted to unwind a little with food made by someone else for a change and a glass of wine. And to at least make a marginal attempt to distract himself from wanting to be somewhere else and in different company again already.

No offense, of course, to Gladio.

"So," said Gladio from the couch, no doubt already leaving dusting of rice from his take-out container around where he sat, "what should I put on? Cooking shows to make you mad, or sports shows to make me mad?"

Okay, he took that back. Some offense to Gladio, after all.

[[ for those who know who they are and with some helpful little morsels of OCD like the rice Iggy'll find in the couch cushions later; CW for someone almost fucking dying ]]

Comments

The First Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

In which a nice quiet Saturday evening becomes very much not so much anymore with some unexpected visitors.

The Second Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

And then somehow things manage to get somehow both better and worse, all at once!

The Aftermath.

[chef_chocobro]

When the dust settles and, hopefully, the bloodstains haven't set entirely.

The OOC.

[chef_chocobro]

Because we can't be having the world ending quite yet.

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

Together, Marc and Liliana had made their slow and painful way to Malchanceux Harris Apartments, all the way up to the sixth floor (although now Liliana had discovered elevators and that she loved them) and then to apartment 18. Part of Liliana wanted nothing more than vanish into her home, where she could be weak and vulnerable without fear, but her manor was so far and she knew she needed more help than what her steward could provide. And so she'd made the terrifying decision to trust, to believe, and let Marc bring her somewhere she could be taken care of.

A man's voice in her head, darkly amused. *Will you, Lili-flower? Are you sure? They don't have to harm you, they can just choose not to help...*

"Shut up," she mumbled. "Not listening."

His voice was replaced by dozens more, hundreds maybe. *...You carry the seed of destruction...shall rain...root of evil...annihilation...* Liliana couldn't muster up the necessary strength to tell all those voices to hush, so she just moaned, putting her hands over her ears as if that might help.

This was not the victory celebration she had planned.

Re: The OOC.

[deathsmajesty]

Of course not! Lily still has three other demons (and a surprise dragon!) to go!

Re: The First Interruption.

[hasaknightjob]

Luckily Marc wasn't the kind of guy who thought it was overly weird to spend an evening covered in somebody else's blood while you appeared to have a conversation with yourself.

Even so, Marc knew this wasn't the kind of thing Liliana should be alone with. Especially since she and consciousness didn't seem to be besties at the moment. So he wasn't exactly going to leave her on the floor outside the door and assume it would work out all right.

He knocked. Firm enough that if anybody was inside they'd probably have a fair idea that this wasn't someone who got lost trying to deliver Chinese.

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

Hey now. This was her own blood, thank you very much! It had just had the audacity to fall out while she'd been killing somebody else.

Now then, if you looked closely, these were somebody else's ashes she was covered in, but they were harder to notice what with all the blood.

Also she was helping. She also knocked, where her 'knock' was more 'raise an exhausted fist and let it thump against the door and then sag against the guy that had basically become your only support structure, since your body was currently on strike.'

Icon chosen for irony.

Re: The First Interruption.

[sword_chocobro]

A brief moment of confusion passed at the sound of the knock hitting the door; Gladio hadn't heard that light second thump, but Ignis certainly had, and he could swear that something in the air had shifted, and, though it was faint, easily just a trick of his mind, he could swear he could smell a touch of blood in it. The firmness of that knock, though, meant Gladio was getting up off the couch without any hesitation or even conversation about it to go see who it was and what they might want.

"Marc?" That was hardly helping with the confusion, although that was....well, not alleviated, but shifted, slightly, when he saw who was with him. "Lilian--"

It was like a switch shifted in his brain, muscles tensing and attention alert as he stepped back from the door, opening it wide to usher them in as he called out over his shoulder, "Specs! You're going to want to get over--"

Gladio realized that Ignis had already joined him. There was a moment, when the door first opened, and that wave of that scent of blood seemed to crash into the apartment and invade his senses, but as soon as he heard Liliana's name leave Gladio's lips, he was on his feet and rushing over, knocking his thigh into the side of the couch in his haste, but that hardly mattered.

"--here," Gladio concluded, needlessly.

"What is it?" Ignis demanded, trying desperately to get a sense of the scene, but all he could do was smell blood. "What's going on?"

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

With the door opening, Liliana briefly forget everything about her current situation, snapped to attention, pulling herself upright, presenting herself as Liliana Vess, Death Wielder, Defiant Necromancer, Blight of Angels and newly-christened Killer of Kothophed.

"I--" she said, and swayed reaching out to clutch whoever was closest as the world went swimmy. And she certainly didn't look like Liliana - exhausted, soaked with blood, the scars of her contracts still visibly etched onto her skin, red and sullen looking. She was still pale, colder even than her usual below-normal body temperature, and even holding onto someone, she swayed with exhaustion and the effort of staying even this much upright. "--am in need of some assistance," she admitted softly. Like it hurt to say. "If you would...be so kind."

Re: The First Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

Even if that closest wasn't Ignis, you could bet good money on the fact that he was going to make sure he became that person, bracing himself to support the distressingly exhausted weight of her body. He pulled her in and wasted no time in lowering her down to the floor, arm and body both to support her.

"You're alright," he murmured softly to her. "You're going to be okay."

Ignore the faint tremble in his voice of worry and concern and panic, especially with not knowing what was going on, but any such tremble was long gone when he began to bark out instructions to Gladio. "Quick. Pillows, cushions, to support her. And a glass of water, lukewarm, nothing too cold..." Although, really, with the chill of her body right now, he doubted it would be much of a shock to her system. "And warm water, clean rags..."

While Gladio went to do that, he took a moment to try and find her pulse, finding nothing encouraging there in the too faint, too slow, too distant thumping...but it was there at least, even if barely.

His head lifted toward where he assumed Marc was still standing by the door. "What happened?"

His head was swimming and his stomach a bit nauseous from more than just the blood on her, so he figured he could be a little forgiven for not waiting for an answer before his attention shifted back down to Liliana in his arms. "Why here? You should be at the clinic!"

Field patching and dressing and flinging potions and tinctures in the midst of battle was one thing, but he was hardly even remotely close to a medical professional!

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

"No clinic," Liliana said, shaking her head quickly. And then holding it as the room spun. "I don't know them, they're strangers and I--"

How to explain when it all lay so close to some of the most closely guarded of her secrets, those parts of her soul that had long since grown calloused and the idea of exposing them to light and air for the first time in ages hurt nearly as much as the rest of her.

"I'll be okay. I just...Marc didn't think I should be alone." Yes. Marc didn't.

Re: The First Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

Oh, was that a faint, derisive, skeptical grunt wedging its way out of Gladio? Nah, bro, he was just getting pillow and handing them over to Ignis; must have just been the wind.

Ignis took the pillows and, when he realized that that was all Gladio had gotten at that moment, added another terse demand, "And towels?"

"You didn't say towels."

"Yes, well," Ignis snorted irritably, "I figured it went without saying, unless I'm gravely mistaken and this isn't blood at all but rather some deeply questionable new perfume choice."

And then, to Liliana, softer, he said, "I don't think it works for you, darling. There is such a thing as being too on theme."

The levity was for his nerves, but the conversation just to keep her engaged, to keep her present, to keep her there and away from that brink he could feel her so desperately teetering on.

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

Dammit, Ignis, it hurt to laugh, but Liliana gave a soft, gasping noise of amusement anyway, though she ended up clutching his arm immediately afterward.

"I have to say it, but you...might be right," she agreed. "I'm not a fan of this at all. And it's quite overshadowing my triumph." She raised a hand to his face, then dropped it before her blood-tacky hands could muss him further.

*He's going to send you to the clinic, Lili-flower. He doesn't understand.*

Liliana tensed, but otherwise tried to ignore the Raven Man's words.

Re: The Second Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis' confidence was starting to wane, faltering just like whatever faint heartbeat still remained inside of Liliana's body. He had hoped that the water used to gently clean the blood from her skin would have helped to warm her, but she still remained cold, colder than he'd ever felt her before. He was running out of options, running out of ideas, short of just keeping her aware and keeping her hanging on. And she was stubborn, he knew she'd hold on with everything she had, but he was beginning to doubt whether that was still enough, and whether he should simply defy her reservations about the clinic and take her anyway. In her current state, between himself and Gladio? The odds weren't in her favor. She'd never forgive him for it, but, well....it wouldn't even be the most drastic thing he'd ever sacrificed for the life of someone he...

Re: The Second Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

*He's thinking about it. You can see it in the way he looks at you. Looks at his friend. He's thinking about it.*

"Shut up," Liliana whispered. "Just shut up."

*There's an easy way to solve both problems. Just reach out. Pull. The poor besotted fool will probably be grateful. Tragically loyal, remember? Do it, Liliana. Heal yourself. You don't even have to take it all...*

Liliana bit her lip, fists clenching. She didn't trust herself to stop. Not right now.

*This is pathetic, Liliana.* His voice was like a whipcrack. *You're the Mistress of Death. You defy it, you don't bow to it. And what, now you're going to dance around it because of some stupid schoolgirl crush? I'm disappointed.*

"Just stop it," she murmured. "Get away from me."

*Or have you forgotten, my Lili, what waits for you in the Void. Who waits for you. Is that it then? Have you finally decided it's time to face what you've done?*

"No."

Re: The Second Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis could feel Liliana fighting, could feel her struggling against...everything, more than likely, and despite those words that he misconstrued to be directed at him in some sort of understandable delirium, he only held her tighter. "I'm not going anywhere," he murmured back. "I'm right here, I'm going to stay here, until you--"

"Iggy," Gladio tried to softly interject, "I really think--"

"No," Ignis breathed out harshly. "Not yet. Just...go to the medicine cabinet. Check if there's anything...anything at all...that might help. Google it, or something. Just...there's got to be something else we can do..."

"Yeah," Gladio murmured, fully aware that Ignis could hear him, but he dutifully went to disappear into the bathroom, "it's called 'medical professionals...."

Re: The First Interruption.

[hasaknightjob]

Well, credit to Ignis and Gladio for leaping into action before Marc could even get a word out. Hey, it was an emergency, who needed talking when taking care of things was more important?

"You guys got this?" Marc asked, just to be sure. Not that he had any particular skills to apply here but he wanted to be sure before he left them to it.

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

It took Liliana a moment, but she looked up at Marc. "Thank you," she said quietly, the the awkwardness of someone who didn't do thank yous like this often. "You saved my life. I..."

She floundered for what was supposed to come next, failed to find anything good, and so reiterated, "Thank you."

Re: The First Interruption.

[chef_chocobro]

Well, you know, when someone showed up at your doorstop with the blood-soaked body of a woman you were hopelessly, madly tumbling into love with, barely clinging onto life...some things took a bit more of a priority.

Gladio drew in a bit of a steeling breath, his grunt this time a lot less likely to be passed off as anything else, shaking his head and feeling really glad that the rest of Ignis' instructions gave him a good excuse to head into the kitchen, while a desperate part of Ignis wanted to let out a very honest no, but he was steadily trying to convince himself otherwise.

"Yes," he breathed out, with a nod. "I think so. Unless you know better than either of us how to handle a situation like this, but, if that were the case, then I don't suspect you'd have needed to come here in the first place." And even though he looked up toward him again, he knew there were things he just couldn't convey with a glance, so he hoped he had sufficiently poured enough of how much he meant the next words into his tone. "Thank you, Marc."

"Yeah," no such gratitude from Gladio, just a sort of tight dismissiveness as he nudged Ignis in the shoulder to let him know he was handing him a glass of water, "thanks."

Re: The First Interruption.

[hasaknightjob]

"I tried getting her to the Clinic," Marc said to Ignis, since it wasn't hard to guess who Liliana wanted taking point here. "She insisted I bring her here instead. Maybe you'll have more luck than I will."

"Don't worry about it," Marc said to Liliana to make ping flow easier. "Catch me up on what the hell happened when you get a chance.

And with that he headed out.

Re: The Second Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

For all her muttering about 'shut up' and 'go away', Liliana didn't seem to be in a rush to actually get away from Ignis, leaning against him, head lolling on his shoulder, once again doing an excellent impression of a broken doll. "Trees," she muttered. "Trees. Plants of any kind. Small creatures?"

Full sentences are for suckers.

She sighed. "Wasn't s'posed to be like this. Happy. Perfect day." She laced their fingers together; hers remain frigid.

Re: The First Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

"He didn't think I should be alone," Liliana repeated softly. "He's...not wrong, I suppose. But I just don't..." She trailed off. "Strangers. I don't---"

*..shall rain...root of evil...annihilation...*

She leaned against Ignis, and that feeling he'd had before, of a texture that was neither scar nor tattoo but something of both. Only this time, the textures stay and they're everywhere.

Re: The Second Interruption.

[stykera]

Stark had been downstairs sulking alone in his apartment when he'd been overcome by a sense of something being wrong. Something nearby needed to be dealt with. Someone nearby needed help.

This didn't happen often here. It had been some time. Not since that time the days kept repeating and people kept dying.

So he'd gone upstairs since the feeling was coming from there. He found the door to #18 open and stepped inside, staying just past the threshold.

"Can I help?"

Re: The Second Interruption.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana usually felt like death. She embraced it long ago, took it into her soul, stitched it with her Planeswalker spark, woven it into every shred of magical power within her. Death already cast a very long shadow over her.

And now it was closer still, practically breathing down her neck. The call of the Void was loud around her, almost deafening.

She startled when Stark's voice came in through the doorway, tensed a moment like she might flee, and then relaxed when she recognized Stark's voice and shrugs, a little weakly.