eswareinmal | Always feel like she's runnin on a hamster wheel

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Always feel like she's runnin on a hamster wheel

Characters: Ginia Solana, Rupert Giles, and Helios Sprensonne
Open? No
Where: Schwanheim to the Two Faced Forest
When: Morning of RD 19
What: It's time to put a stop to Ginia's stealing spree and Helios and Giles know just how to do it.
Warnings: Violence and language

There was always a fall. A dark, crashing, downward spiral after the high, after the moment, after that fleeting feeling of success. Ginia knew there would be a fall and now that she was falling it was all she could do to slow her descent.

She barely slept after the heist, laying awake under a dark bridge, making sure no guards were coming after her, too jittery to sleep. Some of the books were safely with Liara, the other half left in the house - she couldn't call it a home, not anymore - as a sort of offering to Giles and Helios. They would know what to do with them, with the information hidden inside. Because even if she wasn't entirely herself anymore, the parts that hung on loosely still remembered her dearest friend and lover.

The morning came too quickly. She stole some pastries from the bakery, sating her hunger and her need to steal, but it wasn't enough. Nothing was anymore.

So when she sees a ring left carelessly on the ground, sun hitting the gold surface just right, Ginia pounces on it and hides it in a pocket, quickly seeing another shiny thing several yards away. That too, she went after. Once she was a thief, meticulous and almost masterful, now she was desperate and predictable.

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"It is."

...maybe not right now. But, things are getting better. And they will be okay. Soon. Eventually.

They just have to hold out hope. Even if the only way they can is by bolstering one another.

"...Ginia is herself again. That, um, th-that was the goal, from the start. If she wants to be alone for a while...at least she's the one deciding it."

He ties off the bandage to punctuate the words, leaving the long, bloody gash cleaned and hidden away. "And we wouldn't have gotten that far without you."

A light wince at the tying off of the bandage. Helios frowns nodding in acknowledgement of the other man's words. It was Ginia's choice now, at least, whether or not to come back home. But a promise is a heavy thing to break, especially to the people in question.

"It might also have gone better if I t-told you sooner." He can't deny that it was his fault for never telling Giles in the first place. Thinking he could stop it before it escalated. "And I-I'm sorry that I didn't." He looks at his sliced arm, thinking it was some sort retribution to the spoken words. Maybe he got what he deserved after all...there was the ordeal with Halloween.

Maybe this day would never have happened then, and they would all be sitting here enjoying a nice breakfast together. Hindsight wasn't one of his specialties, and what's done is done. "It could only get better now I-I suppose." His chest throbs slightly with pain, remembering Benu...remembering her words and the effect she had on him, on the thing living inside him.

Only get better until something else occurs.

Speaking of breakfast...

This time, actually for once unaware of what fresh fears are eating away at Helios' mind, Giles notices the bread and the fruit she'd set out for them before she left.

It had been an early start and he, for one, hadn't eaten anything. He privately doubted that Helios had, either. And so Giles picks up the plate, takes a bit of bread for himself, and then holds the food out to Helios.

"There is very little that you're obligated to tell me, Helios. Given the...well, um, given the unexpected circumstances of today...I won't say this was one of them."

Not that it wouldn't have been nice to know...but, Helios knows that. All the same, neither of them predicted this, and so Giles places equal blame on himself for not thinking to ask. All their careful planning, and he never considered.

"...even if they get worse all over again...they always get better."

That, at least, is something he can believe in. It's not the most reassuring thought in the world. But, well, experience bears it out. He, and Helios, and Ginia...life may bring them low, but it always takes care to bring them back up again.

Helios stares at the plate for a moment, as if he doesn't even want to eat. But his stomach betrays him with a very loud growl, and he looks away sheepishly, as he takes takes some fruit and bread. "But...this wasn't s-something like that. I should have said something..."

He sighs, his features twisting into subtle pain and exhaustion in that span of seconds. "We've...been through worse and came out j-just fine." Mostly. But he can get behind the other's words, if only because he's been through it too and past experience has led him to believe such things.

"I-I think there's supposed to be a t-town meeting at the castle today." A sigh. He doesn't even know what about but they should probably tidy up and go. Even if all Helios wants to do is sleep. "I-I suppose we should, ah, go and see what the fuss is all about." He'll eat slowly, pondering, and wondering what exactly the big to do might be. Probably nothing of great importance, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"At the...?"

Giles frowns, drawing an absolute blank, at first. What with everything that's happened today, everything he's had to deal with and think through...well, anything having to do with the people of Schwanheim, he'd pushed quite firmly out of his mind. That, and he sees no reason to connect the two women in the market with whatever's going on. It just seems too ridiculous.

Even for this place.

"It's...probably nothing," he says carefully, echoing Helios' thoughts. "But, um. I, I suppose it's probably a good idea to go. S-Stay informed, sort of thing."

Giles sounds highly doubtful, especially since he'd also much prefer to catch up on some sleep than stop by the palace.

But, after the last few days, he's had enough of surprises to last a lifetime.

"S-Stay informed." He says it a bit amused. Whatever could the townspeople possibly inform them about, Helios hasn't a clue, but they had the Hero title...and should probably go, just to be safe.

He sits back in his chair and closes his eyes, his brows knitting in consternation and thought.

"Giles. Have you, um, ever met a woman who...who was clothed in silk like flames? A-And when you meet her it feels like the air around you is on fire?"

Edited 2012-09-27 01:02 (UTC)

Giles goes absolutely dead still, a slice of apple halfway to his mouth.

"Then take my hand, lost spirit...and through fire, be reborn."

Oh, yes, Giles knows Benu. What he doesn't remember is the lengths Benu went to in order to ensure he forgot how well he knew her. But talking with Loki has awakened a few inklings of suspicion and anxiety, even if he can't pinpoint the source.

And she wasn't able to erase his memories of the party, where she'd first caught his eye.

"Yes, I have. Um...at, at the party, for the...the slaying of the beast, whatever it was. Thought she was, um, just an odd guest. Or a hero, like us."

Helios stills as Giles does, the food on his plate going untouched as he stares at it. There's an expression of deep pain over his features, before he looks back at Giles.

"Sh-she's dangerous." His voice is wavering, scared, something in his eyes looks almost hesitant to continue.

"I. I ran into her a day or two a-ago." He flexes his right hand unconsciously against his pant leg. He sighs and looks down at the floor again.

"She did something t-to me. I...I don't know what but. A-Apep. He, um, it...r-reacted to her and it, it hurt. It hurt so much." He sounds terrified as he takes a calming deep breath.

"What is she...?" What could possibly elicit such a reaction to make Apep, even the small portion within him, hurt that way? It was disconcerting, it was very disconcerting and Helios doesn't know if she'll try to show up to him again. What is he supposed to do if he does? What if no one helps him next time?

"...not human."

Loki had said that much. But when Giles tries to recall more...he can't think, a fog settles over his mind, and whatever he'd been grasping for slips away. And it only makes him more concerned, more afraid, for Helios and himself.

Giles reaches out and rests a hand lightly on Helios' chest, trying to avoid any contact that might upset him, in this state.

"Has, um...has Apep continued to be more active, since then?"

It's an eventuality he's dreaded for a long time. And Giles isn't any more prepared to deal with it now than he was when he first learned it could happen.

Helios flinches ever so slightly at the unexpected contact. There is a minor jolt of pain from his arm, which compounds itself on the dull ache he continuously has due to Apep. But all the same he appreciates the contact but its...calming and soothing in some ways. Because it was Giles, someone he's grown to depend on in more than one way.

"S-Sometimes? I-I don't...I don't think it'll be a problem." Though he wouldn't have made mention of it if it were. He knows it's not the best weight to leave on Giles' shoulders, especially with everything leading up to now. The poor man didn't need anymore stress than he already had and a pang of guilt washes over him as he looks away to the window.

"I'm not sure how well it'll g-go next time." When or if they meet again. He shivers slightly at the thought. If Kori hadn't come in to save him...who knows what would have happened.

Probably not well. If...when...Benu decides to show up again, and if Helios is alone when it happens...things will probably go very badly.

But Giles can't bring himself to say as much out loud. Because, if Apep does awaken, Giles knows that he doesn't have a chance, and he can only guess how painful the thought of that would be to Helios.

Instead:

"...can you still manage that barrier you put around the old house?"

It kept out Grell and Angelus. Maybe it would work to keep out Benu.

Not just pain but pure fear. Because Helios saw what Apep want to do to both Giles and Ginia. The things I would love to do to those two as you watch. He's only scratched the surface of it once. The mask showed him it, it tapped into the unbridled anger and rage that was connected in some ways to Apep. Destruction and chaos and death were all that he wanted to cause to everyone and everything in the enclosure. The mask made those thoughts taste like a sweet, succulent, nectar at the time. And for once he had lost himself to it, completely and utterly, blind sided by it. But he never talked about it, never said much of anything about how it touched that part of him. The things he had wanted to do to them...

Helios' unfocused gaze snaps back at the question and he looks back at Giles.

"Of c-course." He doesn't know if it'll help keep an entity like Benu out, but well, Helios is willing to try anything at this point. "I. I can probably make it even stronger here with-without the power cap in place."

"Then we'll start there."

It's something, and it might give Helios some peace of mind. Maybe let him feel like he's not completely powerless against Benu, or Apep.

Giles knows that he should probably mention his own anxieties about Benu at one point. The fact that she'd been able to temporarily give him back his body at the ball has taken on an entirely new sinister light. Maybe someone else would be able to put the pieces together, where he can't...

But, he doesn't. Helios is scared and tired enough as it is.

"...I won't ever let him overcome you, Helios. Whatever I can do to stop it...I will."

An empty promise, perhaps, but one he'll nevertheless try to fulfill with all his might, should the day ever come.

Helios just...hunches even more on his himself at those words. Because whatever might done might mean killing him, or worse. He couldn't ever ask that of Giles even if the other truly never would let it happen. It's too dark and too deep for him to think about right now.

"Hopefully you-you'll never have to." If only there was a way to get rid of Apep entirely.

"...hopefully I'll never have to."

Hope is what's keeping them going through one trying time right now, right now. Surely, they can rely on it to get them through this one.

After all...maybe, just maybe, it won't come to that.

So Giles tries for a smile. "Um, y-you should eat," he says, indicating the food. "After that, um...well, we could probably both use some sleep. Th-Things will be better, after a rest. They, um, they generally are."

Helios barely manages a small stiff smile at those words. Reassurances are good for this sort of thing, right? And, well, Helios along with Giles could use them right about now.

"Oh. Y-Yes of course. I entirely forgot that was there..." he goes to steadily munch on some of the fruit then, his hunger finally hitting him like a freight train. After a few pieces of cheese and bread, Helios will swallow it down with some water.

"Sleep sounds lovely at the moment." He's not sure how much of it he'll get. But he's tired enough to pass out right about now, so yes, sleep first. "Things will be better." It's said in a more affirmative tone of voice.

"They always, generally, do."

Food helps. Sleep helps. Talking helps. It's advice Giles isn't always able to live by, but it's advice that he's always stood by.

Even now, things look...well, just a bit more hopeful.

"They always do." Without tea, he can't really offer a toast. But Giles murmurs "Cheers" all the same, as he goes about finishing his food. When he's done, well...despite his worry, he won't be much longer in following Helios to sleep.

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Always feel like she's runnin on a hamster wheel

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