the falcon cannot hear the falconer; [OPEN]

[ensorceler]

who; anne & you!
what; escape from the clinic
where; clinic & castle gardens
when; today
rating; pg-13 (mention of hell and torture and skirts stuck in wheelchairs)

Anne had been to Hell and back, and what did she have to show for it? Broken pride, perhaps? Even that could not be entirely stifled, but she has made a remarkable show of it since her awakening in the clinic. It helped that she had her clinic room's door shut whenever she could, not wishing for anyone to see her in such gruesome shape. She certainly had injuries to show for it, but so did everybody. Even a week later, Anne is unable to walk on her own more than a step or two. Though her gown, dark for mourning, shields the worst of it from prying eyes, it's impossible to hide that her left arm is in a sling (or at least it should be), the right side of her face is bandaged, and she is most certainly in a wheelchair! But that doesn't stop her from trying to look her best with accessories, simply using a long silk scarf to wrap up her skirt so that it doesn't get tangled in the wheels. She may have already had to learn that lesson the hard way.

Adjusting to these chairs on wheels took some adjustment, especially considering the upper arm strength they required. This, of course, meant that Anne had to pull her arm from her sling whenever she wanted to go anywhere. And you know what, that's exactly what she does, because fuq the popo she's Queen and she does what she wants. The painkillers help, for sure, although she still requires many breaks and pauses in her venture.

Anyone might spot her on her way out of the clinic, as she is not the most subtle scene to bear witness to, but eventually Anne will try to find her way to the castle's gardens, wanting to see the roses, and perhaps find shade in the maze. Wherever she may rest, Anne will end up seated in the grass with the flowers, weaving them along the armrests of the wheelchair. Though her mind still feels numb at times, unable to cope with even thinking of what she should do now, the sun always helps, and menial tasks like these help occupy her scattered mind.

Comments

GARDENS;

[ensorceler]

[3nterprising]

Being in the castle had been stuffy and frankly quite undesirable for Faye, considering everything had been going on since the event. Her torso is bandaged to the Nth degree while her stab wound heals, and bending hadn't been easy, but she's compelled to be outside.

Spotting the familiar face as she wandered the gardens jarred Faye for more reasons than one, but approaching her seemed inevitable.

"How's your leg?"

[ensorceler]

The voice triggers her to freeze in place, only looking up when the other woman draws near. Feeling considerably vulnerable in this state, especially around any who had attributed to her injuries, Anne can't help but completely clam up at first. The gaze she offers is not warm, though, as her hand settles over her skirts and she finally finds her voice.

"I am unable to walk. I trekked with the injury for too long on that ship of the Damned, and I was told the loss of blood and infection could have been my final undoing had I been rescued at any later date. Shall I go on?"

[3nterprising]

"No need, I get it."

Faye had been expecting the animosity. "I wasn't-- neither of us were in our right minds." She's inching her way toward an apology.

[ensorceler]

Anne's eyes only narrow more. Faye's right, but Anne can't keep down the defensive feeling, especially when someone tries telling a queen what they were supposedly thinking. What quiet humility she had been summoning so often lately seems drowned out now, the feeling of weakness only making her show of pride that much louder and enforced.

"You do not know me, and can make no claim on my state of mind. You are beneath me."

[3nterprising]

Any semblance of an apology Faye had is now taken back, or at the very least postponed. Maybe she wasn't royalty, but she didn't deserve to be spoken to like that.

"You should be thanking me," she says, crossing her arms.

[ensorceler]

That only receives a look of bafflement, drawing back as if she was again struck. "What, pray, ought I to be thanking you for? For nearly ending my life?"

[3nterprising]

"You'd probably have gotten sucked into oblivion if it weren't for me," she says, standing at a safe distance. Her arms remain crossed, and she's still a bit wary of this alleged queen, having never actually talked to her before now.

"Besides, if you had died, you probably would have just come back anyway. That is how this castle works, isn't it?"

[ensorceler]

"You did nothing to assist me! The ship was headed towards Hell no matter your acts towards others. The only souls I would credit for saving me belong to two...men." She uses the term tentatively, all things considered. Frodo doesn't seem like a simple dwarf, she's never actually asked him what he is, and Hellboy just looks like Satan and would give her nightmares if she didn't have them already but there you go.

"Even had I not lost my life, I could very well have lost my leg from the festering. No matter the cause, the confusion, you were the one to do so. No matter your injuries, you are still able to walk about and dare offer uninvited derision. You may be sorry, but it is for God to forgive you, should he choose. I will leave that up to His grace."

[3nterprising]

She side-eyes the queen at the mention of the two men, but lets it slide without comment.

"Well, you didn't lose either of them, so quit whining," she says, peering at her roses. "If God had any opinion on this, he'd probably recognize my good intent. Even though apparently I shouldn't have wasted the effort."

The fact that her majesty is being so ornery about the whole thing is annoying, and Faye's even more frustrated by the fact that she'd only done what she did because of that lunkhead Spike.

[ensorceler]

Anne might slap her if she got close enough, if only for her dismissive attitude. It's one thing she cannot tolerate now, not in such reference.

"Do not speak of God as if you know him." Anne glances the woman's..."outfit" over once, twice, then looks away with a little scoff, muttering under her breath. "And they dare call me a whore."

[3nterprising]

"But it sounds like you know him so well." She puts her hands on her hips, the bandages around her torso clearly visible.

Her eyes narrow at the second comment; it may have been quiet, but Faye got the gist of it. "I heard that." It wasn't as if that was the first time someone had said something like that.

[ensorceler]

Anne looks up again, and though only one eye may be visible, her deadpan look would be hard to miss. The standard 'see how much I care' expression.

"What is it you wish of me? If you truly seek forgiveness from God, you may pray with me. I will not turn away a lost person seeking nourishment for the soul."

[gottaknockhard]

Spike took his time returning to the castle. Most might alert everyone who may care the moment they return from the dead, but it took him longer than a few days to start to feel like himself again -- turns out staying in the mansion wasn't the best method of recovery.

He spotted her with Faye before he even made it inside, and hung back behind a tall piece of shrubbery to let them talk. Considering how he left, it's better that he take them one at a time. With any luck, they didn't get that story, but he's not taking chances. Once Anne is alone again, he steps out, crushing a cigarette he smoked to pass the time before getting any closer. He watches her carefully, taking in what he sees.

"You look shorter than I remember." To be fair, there wasn't anything he could say that would have helped his case.

[ensorceler]

The stem of the rose snaps and tears in her grip in her hurry to turn and see the owner of the voice, peripheral vision not at it's best thanks to the bandaging. Not that she should have really doubted who it is, but when one has suffered from countless visions a week earlier, it's understandable to occasionally doubt reality. Although she already had, hadn't she? Hadn't they both?

What hope and relief that managed to shine in her eye is quickly stamped out, even bright anger nonexistence, instead replaced with cold walls. Her lips purse, and then she looks back down and away to the ruined stem. Gripping the rose with her hand, she forcefully rips it free, then calmly works about nestling it within the design along the back, using the other flowers to keep it in place.

"You no longer seem as tall, either."

[gottaknockhard]

He didn't know what to expect from her reaction, and he misses nothing as she puts on her detached front. The subtle insult seems to roll past him, although he does fluff up one side of his hair self-consciously before saying anything else.

"I'm sorry." Apologies seem to come easier all the time, so he must be getting used to giving them. He looks down at hands. "I didn't even bring flowers."

[ensorceler]

"Is that a jest? You think I am in the mood?"

Seriously they're in a garden, and she's got pile a pile of flowers in her lap. Anne seems intensely devoted to weaving some together, too, reds and whites and yellows. She purposely doesn't invite him to sit.

"You apologized before. You said it, not even knowing why. What are you sorry for?"

[gottaknockhard]

"A few things," he starts lamely. He wants to know what happened, but he had a suspicion after seeing her with Faye. He remembers trying to get her help to track Anne down, so he can only make assumptions. Everything went to Hell and back again and all he can do is make jokes. Maybe he tries too hard to seem normal.

"I guess I don't blame you for firing me." She had said while trying to claw herself away from him, and she had a right to. Spike only brings it up now to gauge her reaction, and give her an out if she cares to take it.

[ensorceler]

It only seems to make her more irate, or at least upset, given the trembling of her hands as she still continues to weave and knot the roses. Is there anything he could say to help the situation? Perhaps some things that wouldn't make it worse, but that's light shooting fish in a barrel.

"I see. Is that why you did not hurry to bring flowers, as you said? Not to see after the state of your queen, even through the most careless of channels like the journal, because as a madwoman she released you?"

[gottaknockhard]

Apparently he hasn't found something that won't make it worse. It doesn't help that only one thing comes to mind as she starts to lose her composure. If she doesn't know anything about his disappearance, he'll have to thank those two for more than putting him up for a few bizarre days.

"No, that's not the reason."

[ensorceler]

"Then tell me the reason."

She looks up sharply, taking a rest so she can settle her arm delicately back into it's sling. Even with medicine for the pain, she can still only tolerate so much for so long without resting.

"Why did you abandon your duty to a queen? I would ask why you abandoned your loyalty to a woman, had I thought you ever possessed any."

[gottaknockhard]

He smiles briefly at her assessment, and resists the urge to come closer, feeling like he should keep his distance if he's upsetting her by being near. Honestly, he doesn't have a lot of motivation to make it worse by telling her the truth. Why make a big deal out of something when he isn't the one in the wheelchair?

"I was locked in a cellar." Then again, when put like that, the truth sounds too ridiculous to believe. And he kind of hopes she doesn't the moment it leaves his mouth. "It was a strange week."

[ensorceler]

"A strange week... A strange week."

She throws the wreath of roses up at him suddenly, with as much force as she can muster with one hand, which granted really isn't much in her state, especially considering she's sitting on the ground and he's up so high and too far. It falls short, landing at his feet.

"You vile, contemptible cur. I burned! I burned and I cried for mercy, and dogs chews at my flesh as it crisped like I was naught but a roast, digging deep into my belly for a son that is no longer there and never will be. And she laughed, all she did was laugh. She need not have uttered a single word, for I could hear her message when the beast's jaws began to rip at my ears. Jezebel, Jezebel! Before I could hear nothing else, feel nothing else, only for it to begin again. And I watched others, heard them; still hear them whenever it is silent for too long."

Anne struggles to stand, grabbing onto the arm of her wheelchair to try and help launch herself up onto her knees, and then her feet. She'll get there eventually, assuming he doesn't run off before she's done with her rant.

"And I returned here to nothing but my shame and a broken body. An empty room and the silence, but who would ever wish to visit a madwoman, hm? I was all alone until I finally called for the names, and yours was not given, so you have no excuse! You would never, anyway, for you are the reason I was devoured! And then, in all your cruelty, you abandoned me on the ship, and then here. So that you could do naught but sit about drinking wine and smoking your cigarettes?! There is not a scratch on you. How dare you! How dare you! You failure!"

[gottaknockhard]

Spike could anticipate what was coming the moment she threw her flowers towards him. That's the trouble of going away for a while: everything builds, and he can't say he doesn't deserve what follows. He has no corrections for her as she spells out his faults with the accuracy of someone who has known him longer than she has. The real truth, is that he's never been able to save anyone. -- She's seen it herself.

He doesn't move for the first half of her rant. (He's felt more like a zombie than a person these past few days, he may as well act like one.) Only when she attempts to stand, he takes the steps forward necessary to be able to catch her if she falters, even if it gets him slapped in the process.

"You're right, I don't have an excuse." Or he refuses to use it. Like he'll be able to keep that a secret forever. But death doesn't cover him when he's been awake for days now and he didn't come. Not to mention he died long after he lost her on the ship. "I should have been there."

[ensorceler]

Anne nearly hisses at his closing proximity, but she doesn't tell him to back away. Instead it seems to spurn her on, and as she stands on her own two feet (barely), she all but spits at his feet.

"I ran from you on the ship, but since returning I have done no running. So how is it you could not find me? Tell me you were locked away? Do not lie to me. Come here!"

She stretches her arm out, though not for support, glowering and waiting as it takes all of her effort to stand without letting her left leg shake too much. Daring to see if he'll listen or leave again. "Come closer now!"