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tampered2007-02-06 10:45 pm
violet-carsons.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2007-02-06 10:45 pm
Log: Complete;
When; Sunday, Feb 4
Rating; PG 13 (mild violence~)
Characters; Valerie![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
violet_carsons and Joshua apostleofhope
Summary; Curiousity, a room, a gun and confliction.
Log;
The room was just as Rosette had left it. Joshua was careful to never let guests enter... He only allowed Fiore in to do her cleaning. But she was smart and knew to leave everything in it's place.
He hadn't really meant to linger. After letting his hands run across the white dress hanging on the back of the door, he found himself sitting on her bed and falling onto his side. The sheets were something Joshua had told Fiore to never wash. Not yet. Merely dust.
They smelled like her, still.
With a sigh, his blue eyes slowly fluttered shut, and he pulled his feet off of the ground so that he could curl and doze. With the way the sunlight was filtering in through the floral curtains, it was surprisingly warm despite the season.
--
Somehow Valerie had managed to fall asleep with Joshua in the room, though she would never be able to explain why. Possibly because he had stayed with her, and therefore wasn't out to be putting her friends in danger. As soon as he had wandered off, though, she had started to stir, as if knowing-- even in sleep-- that he wasn't close by. When she finally woke, she startled a little, and worry immediately lanced through her chest.
Pulling herself out of the bed, she picked up the housecoat that was left at the foot and tucked it around her body, arms crossed. Even though it was warm in the house, there was a chill in Valerie's bones that she couldn't seem to be rid of-- the same kind from Larkhill. One she hadn't felt since coming to the City, until now.
She wandered from her room (the door was unlocked, and that alone should have been warning enough) and glanced around the hall way, as though she might spot Joshua hiding in a corner. When she didn't see him she turned to head down to the kitchen-- only to be stopped when she noted another door nearby standing ajar. Curiousity got the best of her, and she moved to it, peering into the room hidden behind it.
--
The presence of another person made him stir a bit, but as if knowing it wasn't an enemy, he soon stilled once more, with his arm propped beneath his head so that he didn't disturb the laced pillow.
It was most definitely a girl's room. Dresses of all kinds were in the open closet, with an especially elegant and yet simple white dress hanging on it's door. The vanity table was spotless, and empty on top aside from the hairbrush resting neatly on top, a few strands of long blonde hair still caught in the bristles.
What was hidden in the vanity's drawers was very light amounts of make-up, different scents of perfume, and something else much more sinister. On top of the dresser lay a few pieces of clothing that had yet to be put away. A pair of stockings, and a locket.
The room itself was decorated sweetly, and yet seemed to be hiding a sinister secret behind the frills and lace. Well...a secret that was no longer a secret to some.
--
Valerie paused, subconsciously folding her arms a little tighter, wrapping herself up even more in the borrowed housecoat. The cleanliness of the room was enough for the woman to put two and two together and come up with ‘death’. It wasn’t unusual for people to keep a missing family member’s room exactly as it had been before a passing—but the sight of Joshua sleeping carefully on the finely kept bed, the spotless floor and dustless table-tops sent a chill through her.
Valerie couldn’t recall any other room in the house holding an aura of reverence like this one. But for all the soft trimmings, Valerie knew this place wasn’t as innocent as it appeared at first glance. It had to be Rosette’s room, and that realization alone was enough to almost make the woman turn on heel and promptly leave. But curiousity got the best of her, the human flaw she had never been able to curb, and she stepped carefully into the room.
She wandered quietly, keeping her hands to herself, inspecting everything with eyes alone. She didn’t unfold from her self-imposed cocoon of cotton until she reached the vanity. Jade stared at an anxious reflection for a moment before dropping, looking to the few items placed purposefully on the table top. Gentle fingers reached out, skimming along the finished wood, across the handle of the brush, over the metal locket, until they finally wandered to fall on the handle to one of the drawers.
And there she paused. She had already pried enough. If Joshua found out, if he woke up—
She glanced over to the bed.
--
His dreams were troubled, but they weren't solid enough to pinpoint why. Everything was liquid and heavy, and it made it difficult to breathe and move. The light presence in that room that had yet to dissipate drew his subconscious half out of the dreams, and his brow relaxed while he sighed and rolled onto his back, one arm draped over his eyes.
The mutterings were quiet, but in the silence of the room it was easy enough to make out if you listened. "Fiore... Clean later. Not now."
--
Her fingers flexed once, stilling as the boy rolled over, and she released a breath when she saw-- heard-- that Joshua was still fast asleep. Filling her lungs quietly again, she looked away and pulled open the drawer with the unease of someone swearing in a church. And then she saw why she had felt so ill at ease.
A gun.
She paused, and then her hand left the drawer to reach inside, picking up the weapon. It was heavy and solid in her palm, a cold weight that held more power then she was used to. It made her think of black bags and loss and hatred. Prisons. Her gaze lifted from the firearm to the boy sleepign on the bed, the one who was keeping her captive, who threatened her family and kept her from Ruth. The one who had taken her trust and twisted it to his own devices.
Her grip on the gun tightened, the barrel lifting slowly until it was level, aimed directly at his chest, surprisingly steady. There she stopped, and she wasn't sure how long she stood there, pointing death at the teenager, truly debating on ending it right then. She had never wanted to be imprisoned against her will again. Never.
...But, God, he was only a child. And with a soft wince, she lowered the gun and turned away again.
--
The tenseness in the air, and the relentless knowledge that someone was in the room with him finally did make him stir once more, and he pulled his arm away from his face just as he saw a woman turning away. Fiore?
No.
In an instant, Joshua was up on his feet and at her side. Any groggy slowlness he might have been experiencing if it were a normal situation was easily brushed off, and his hand shot out to grab her wrist before she could put away what she was holding.
"A gun?" Despite the lightning fast reflexes and the demanding strength with which he was holding her wrist by, his tone was that of a child not understanding why puppies had to die. The confusion was also present in his gaze as he looked up to her face, his head tilting to the side.
--
Valerie startled and stopped breathing, part of surprise and part of fear, her mind going blank as she was met with that wide-eyed look. She opened her mouth to say something, but with the loss of breath her words seemed to have vanished as well. Nothing came out. But what could she say to that? That she had held it on him seconds ago as he slept? She had actually contemplated shooting him in his sleep? It was unlike her, wasn't it?
And still, for Joshua's innocent curiousity, Valerie was just waiting-- waiting-- for it to click that she had a gun. And where it was probably from. And oh, God, what was he going to do to her?
--
It did click, but not in the way it should have. It was easy to blindly trust those he chose to, and he was gentle as he release her wrist and extracted the weapon from her hand. Turning it, he hit the switch to drop the magazine, revealing it to be empty. Then, he slammed it back together and set the unique weapon down inside it's drawer.
"I'm not foolish. I have the bullets elsewhere. It was my sisters' gun... Useful for blowing apart Devils, especially." Lifting his gaze back up to her, the drawer slid all the way shut, and then he immediately swung his arm to backhand her hard across the cheek.
"What were you doing?! Trying to shoot yourself? Do you want to end it that badly? You're so unhappy here?"
--
She didn't fight him at all as he gently took the gun from her hands, and she didn't even move as he started speaking, waiting for the final blow. But even though she had braced for it, when the hand connected to her face, it still took her by surprise. She turned with the force of the blow and staggered sideways, one hand flying out to catch herself on the edge of the mattress, the other lifting to the sting that turned her cheek scarlet.
"I-- That wasnt--" She stammered, shocked speechless. But still she knew he could have done something so much worse then just hit her.
--
With a sigh, Joshua reached up to run his fingers through his sleep tousled hair. "Don't lie. That's bad."
After smoothing out his coat, he walked over to take her hand, pulling her away from the bed so that he could practically drag her out of the bedroom. "I'll forgive you this time, because I hadn't told you before. But you aren't allowed in that room. If I find you in there again, I'll kill you."
The door clicked shut, and he turned back to her with a smile. "Now. Do you want some ice for that? It won't do if it gets all swollen. You're supposed to help Fiore with dessert tonight. What do you think is better? Blueberry or apricot? Pie, of course."
--
Somehow it was still so strange to her that Joshua could jump from death threats to the topic of dessert without missing a beat. Valerie had never delusioned herself into thinking Joshua was anything close to stable, but being with him now, seeing him this way, she realized exactly how dangerous he was. And not just because he was a demon.
Now, Valerie knew she was a brave woman. She was resilient and stubborn, and the truest test of that had been Larkhill. Even that place hadn't broken her, hadn't made her willingly bend to what they wanted, or take what they did without a defiant look. In ways, this situation was almost the same.
But now she had more this time then just herself. She had something to keep safe again. She had a family. And she had to keep them safe.
"I... Think whichever you fancy tonight will be what we make," The woman finally said, quiet, watching his face carefully and hoping it was the right answer. "I like both kinds."
--
"Ah, they're both good! Apricots are more tangy, though... Blueberries are sweeter, and a little less messy." Releasing his grip on her, the blond lifted his arms to stretch them over his head before interlocking his fingers at the nape of his neck, staring down the hall as he led her towards the staircase.
"Maybe you can talk Fiore into not putting any vegetables in tonight's dinner? Especially carrots. They don't taste good at all." The thought alone made him stick his tongue out in disgust.
--
"I'll see what I can do, Joshua," She said, then paused, her maternal instinct finding its way out despite the entire situation. "But... you know it is important to eat your vegetables." And she smiled a little, curling her hands in her housecoat and wrapping herself up in it again, as though it might offer some sort of protection.
--
"Pffft!" He dropped his hands to lightly trail along the banister as he headed down the stairs. "That's what Fiore tells me. But I'm not a weak little boy who needs them anymore. I'm strong without them."
Walking from the bottom of the stairs, he immediately noticed Fiore wasn't in the kitchen, or the courtyard. He felt uneasy when she wasn't around, but she was probably just getting groceries. Valerie was there, so he didn't need to worry. No need to be nervous.
Turning to glance up to Valerie, Joshua observed her as she stepped down after him, then smiled again and reached out to cup her cheek. "I don't think ice will help. Here."
The wings spread out immediately, ethereal in the white light that matched the glowing suddenly emanating from his palm. It was a warmth that he would never feel, unfortunately.
Pulling his hand away after a few seconds, he wriggled his fingers playfully with a grin.
--
Valerie blinked slowly, her eyes following the flare of white feathers before flicking back to Joshua when his hand lifted for her face. Inwardly she flinched, despite herself, but he body didn’t react even the slightest bit. Instead, she stayed very still, only moving when she felt the heat of his magic wash over her skin, and then it was only a flutter of eyelashes.
When his fingers slid away her gaze lifted again to catch that cheeky little smile and the playful wave, and briefly she wondered if this was why Fiore looked so melancholy all the time. Her own hand lifted, brushing passed her cheek before dropping.
“Thank you.”
--
The wings were gone again, as if they had never been, and Joshua dropped his hand to slip it into his trousers pocket. "Don't have to thank me. Your smile's enough. You should do it more."
Cocking his head to the side, the teenager turned to head towards the kitchen. "Maybe it would be better if I took the bars off your window? That would make you happy, right? After all, the mother of the house can't be locked in a cage like a bird."
Suddenly he snickered, as if there was a joke that only he was privy to. "And, of course, a sweet snack. Fiore's not back yet, so we can have some cookies before she starts dinner. No telling on me." Reaching back, he took her hand to pull her with him.
--
"...Of course not, Joshua," She said softly, curling her hand into his and following. His mother-- is that how he saw it? Come to think of it, she had never heard word, in any way, of Joshua having family aside from his sister, Fiore and that man who had left. That he said that, it made her want to smile, and made her heart break all at once.
"Sometimes we all deserve a treat," The lady finished, and let the smile through, because it was what he wanted. And even though he threatened her family, kept her hostage (though, hopefully, with no more bars, now), and did terrible things-- she still wanted him to have some kind of happiness in his life. He was sick, she understood that. Therefore, it couldn't be all his fault.
Patience was a virtue, after all. And if Valerie was anything, it was a patient and resilient. Somehow, this whole thing would work out.
Somehow.
Rating; PG 13 (mild violence~)
Characters; Valerie
violet_carsons and Joshua apostleofhopeSummary; Curiousity, a room, a gun and confliction.
Log;
The room was just as Rosette had left it. Joshua was careful to never let guests enter... He only allowed Fiore in to do her cleaning. But she was smart and knew to leave everything in it's place.
He hadn't really meant to linger. After letting his hands run across the white dress hanging on the back of the door, he found himself sitting on her bed and falling onto his side. The sheets were something Joshua had told Fiore to never wash. Not yet. Merely dust.
They smelled like her, still.
With a sigh, his blue eyes slowly fluttered shut, and he pulled his feet off of the ground so that he could curl and doze. With the way the sunlight was filtering in through the floral curtains, it was surprisingly warm despite the season.
--
Somehow Valerie had managed to fall asleep with Joshua in the room, though she would never be able to explain why. Possibly because he had stayed with her, and therefore wasn't out to be putting her friends in danger. As soon as he had wandered off, though, she had started to stir, as if knowing-- even in sleep-- that he wasn't close by. When she finally woke, she startled a little, and worry immediately lanced through her chest.
Pulling herself out of the bed, she picked up the housecoat that was left at the foot and tucked it around her body, arms crossed. Even though it was warm in the house, there was a chill in Valerie's bones that she couldn't seem to be rid of-- the same kind from Larkhill. One she hadn't felt since coming to the City, until now.
She wandered from her room (the door was unlocked, and that alone should have been warning enough) and glanced around the hall way, as though she might spot Joshua hiding in a corner. When she didn't see him she turned to head down to the kitchen-- only to be stopped when she noted another door nearby standing ajar. Curiousity got the best of her, and she moved to it, peering into the room hidden behind it.
--
The presence of another person made him stir a bit, but as if knowing it wasn't an enemy, he soon stilled once more, with his arm propped beneath his head so that he didn't disturb the laced pillow.
It was most definitely a girl's room. Dresses of all kinds were in the open closet, with an especially elegant and yet simple white dress hanging on it's door. The vanity table was spotless, and empty on top aside from the hairbrush resting neatly on top, a few strands of long blonde hair still caught in the bristles.
What was hidden in the vanity's drawers was very light amounts of make-up, different scents of perfume, and something else much more sinister. On top of the dresser lay a few pieces of clothing that had yet to be put away. A pair of stockings, and a locket.
The room itself was decorated sweetly, and yet seemed to be hiding a sinister secret behind the frills and lace. Well...a secret that was no longer a secret to some.
--
Valerie paused, subconsciously folding her arms a little tighter, wrapping herself up even more in the borrowed housecoat. The cleanliness of the room was enough for the woman to put two and two together and come up with ‘death’. It wasn’t unusual for people to keep a missing family member’s room exactly as it had been before a passing—but the sight of Joshua sleeping carefully on the finely kept bed, the spotless floor and dustless table-tops sent a chill through her.
Valerie couldn’t recall any other room in the house holding an aura of reverence like this one. But for all the soft trimmings, Valerie knew this place wasn’t as innocent as it appeared at first glance. It had to be Rosette’s room, and that realization alone was enough to almost make the woman turn on heel and promptly leave. But curiousity got the best of her, the human flaw she had never been able to curb, and she stepped carefully into the room.
She wandered quietly, keeping her hands to herself, inspecting everything with eyes alone. She didn’t unfold from her self-imposed cocoon of cotton until she reached the vanity. Jade stared at an anxious reflection for a moment before dropping, looking to the few items placed purposefully on the table top. Gentle fingers reached out, skimming along the finished wood, across the handle of the brush, over the metal locket, until they finally wandered to fall on the handle to one of the drawers.
And there she paused. She had already pried enough. If Joshua found out, if he woke up—
She glanced over to the bed.
--
His dreams were troubled, but they weren't solid enough to pinpoint why. Everything was liquid and heavy, and it made it difficult to breathe and move. The light presence in that room that had yet to dissipate drew his subconscious half out of the dreams, and his brow relaxed while he sighed and rolled onto his back, one arm draped over his eyes.
The mutterings were quiet, but in the silence of the room it was easy enough to make out if you listened. "Fiore... Clean later. Not now."
--
Her fingers flexed once, stilling as the boy rolled over, and she released a breath when she saw-- heard-- that Joshua was still fast asleep. Filling her lungs quietly again, she looked away and pulled open the drawer with the unease of someone swearing in a church. And then she saw why she had felt so ill at ease.
A gun.
She paused, and then her hand left the drawer to reach inside, picking up the weapon. It was heavy and solid in her palm, a cold weight that held more power then she was used to. It made her think of black bags and loss and hatred. Prisons. Her gaze lifted from the firearm to the boy sleepign on the bed, the one who was keeping her captive, who threatened her family and kept her from Ruth. The one who had taken her trust and twisted it to his own devices.
Her grip on the gun tightened, the barrel lifting slowly until it was level, aimed directly at his chest, surprisingly steady. There she stopped, and she wasn't sure how long she stood there, pointing death at the teenager, truly debating on ending it right then. She had never wanted to be imprisoned against her will again. Never.
...But, God, he was only a child. And with a soft wince, she lowered the gun and turned away again.
--
The tenseness in the air, and the relentless knowledge that someone was in the room with him finally did make him stir once more, and he pulled his arm away from his face just as he saw a woman turning away. Fiore?
No.
In an instant, Joshua was up on his feet and at her side. Any groggy slowlness he might have been experiencing if it were a normal situation was easily brushed off, and his hand shot out to grab her wrist before she could put away what she was holding.
"A gun?" Despite the lightning fast reflexes and the demanding strength with which he was holding her wrist by, his tone was that of a child not understanding why puppies had to die. The confusion was also present in his gaze as he looked up to her face, his head tilting to the side.
--
Valerie startled and stopped breathing, part of surprise and part of fear, her mind going blank as she was met with that wide-eyed look. She opened her mouth to say something, but with the loss of breath her words seemed to have vanished as well. Nothing came out. But what could she say to that? That she had held it on him seconds ago as he slept? She had actually contemplated shooting him in his sleep? It was unlike her, wasn't it?
And still, for Joshua's innocent curiousity, Valerie was just waiting-- waiting-- for it to click that she had a gun. And where it was probably from. And oh, God, what was he going to do to her?
--
It did click, but not in the way it should have. It was easy to blindly trust those he chose to, and he was gentle as he release her wrist and extracted the weapon from her hand. Turning it, he hit the switch to drop the magazine, revealing it to be empty. Then, he slammed it back together and set the unique weapon down inside it's drawer.
"I'm not foolish. I have the bullets elsewhere. It was my sisters' gun... Useful for blowing apart Devils, especially." Lifting his gaze back up to her, the drawer slid all the way shut, and then he immediately swung his arm to backhand her hard across the cheek.
"What were you doing?! Trying to shoot yourself? Do you want to end it that badly? You're so unhappy here?"
--
She didn't fight him at all as he gently took the gun from her hands, and she didn't even move as he started speaking, waiting for the final blow. But even though she had braced for it, when the hand connected to her face, it still took her by surprise. She turned with the force of the blow and staggered sideways, one hand flying out to catch herself on the edge of the mattress, the other lifting to the sting that turned her cheek scarlet.
"I-- That wasnt--" She stammered, shocked speechless. But still she knew he could have done something so much worse then just hit her.
--
With a sigh, Joshua reached up to run his fingers through his sleep tousled hair. "Don't lie. That's bad."
After smoothing out his coat, he walked over to take her hand, pulling her away from the bed so that he could practically drag her out of the bedroom. "I'll forgive you this time, because I hadn't told you before. But you aren't allowed in that room. If I find you in there again, I'll kill you."
The door clicked shut, and he turned back to her with a smile. "Now. Do you want some ice for that? It won't do if it gets all swollen. You're supposed to help Fiore with dessert tonight. What do you think is better? Blueberry or apricot? Pie, of course."
--
Somehow it was still so strange to her that Joshua could jump from death threats to the topic of dessert without missing a beat. Valerie had never delusioned herself into thinking Joshua was anything close to stable, but being with him now, seeing him this way, she realized exactly how dangerous he was. And not just because he was a demon.
Now, Valerie knew she was a brave woman. She was resilient and stubborn, and the truest test of that had been Larkhill. Even that place hadn't broken her, hadn't made her willingly bend to what they wanted, or take what they did without a defiant look. In ways, this situation was almost the same.
But now she had more this time then just herself. She had something to keep safe again. She had a family. And she had to keep them safe.
"I... Think whichever you fancy tonight will be what we make," The woman finally said, quiet, watching his face carefully and hoping it was the right answer. "I like both kinds."
--
"Ah, they're both good! Apricots are more tangy, though... Blueberries are sweeter, and a little less messy." Releasing his grip on her, the blond lifted his arms to stretch them over his head before interlocking his fingers at the nape of his neck, staring down the hall as he led her towards the staircase.
"Maybe you can talk Fiore into not putting any vegetables in tonight's dinner? Especially carrots. They don't taste good at all." The thought alone made him stick his tongue out in disgust.
--
"I'll see what I can do, Joshua," She said, then paused, her maternal instinct finding its way out despite the entire situation. "But... you know it is important to eat your vegetables." And she smiled a little, curling her hands in her housecoat and wrapping herself up in it again, as though it might offer some sort of protection.
--
"Pffft!" He dropped his hands to lightly trail along the banister as he headed down the stairs. "That's what Fiore tells me. But I'm not a weak little boy who needs them anymore. I'm strong without them."
Walking from the bottom of the stairs, he immediately noticed Fiore wasn't in the kitchen, or the courtyard. He felt uneasy when she wasn't around, but she was probably just getting groceries. Valerie was there, so he didn't need to worry. No need to be nervous.
Turning to glance up to Valerie, Joshua observed her as she stepped down after him, then smiled again and reached out to cup her cheek. "I don't think ice will help. Here."
The wings spread out immediately, ethereal in the white light that matched the glowing suddenly emanating from his palm. It was a warmth that he would never feel, unfortunately.
Pulling his hand away after a few seconds, he wriggled his fingers playfully with a grin.
--
Valerie blinked slowly, her eyes following the flare of white feathers before flicking back to Joshua when his hand lifted for her face. Inwardly she flinched, despite herself, but he body didn’t react even the slightest bit. Instead, she stayed very still, only moving when she felt the heat of his magic wash over her skin, and then it was only a flutter of eyelashes.
When his fingers slid away her gaze lifted again to catch that cheeky little smile and the playful wave, and briefly she wondered if this was why Fiore looked so melancholy all the time. Her own hand lifted, brushing passed her cheek before dropping.
“Thank you.”
--
The wings were gone again, as if they had never been, and Joshua dropped his hand to slip it into his trousers pocket. "Don't have to thank me. Your smile's enough. You should do it more."
Cocking his head to the side, the teenager turned to head towards the kitchen. "Maybe it would be better if I took the bars off your window? That would make you happy, right? After all, the mother of the house can't be locked in a cage like a bird."
Suddenly he snickered, as if there was a joke that only he was privy to. "And, of course, a sweet snack. Fiore's not back yet, so we can have some cookies before she starts dinner. No telling on me." Reaching back, he took her hand to pull her with him.
--
"...Of course not, Joshua," She said softly, curling her hand into his and following. His mother-- is that how he saw it? Come to think of it, she had never heard word, in any way, of Joshua having family aside from his sister, Fiore and that man who had left. That he said that, it made her want to smile, and made her heart break all at once.
"Sometimes we all deserve a treat," The lady finished, and let the smile through, because it was what he wanted. And even though he threatened her family, kept her hostage (though, hopefully, with no more bars, now), and did terrible things-- she still wanted him to have some kind of happiness in his life. He was sick, she understood that. Therefore, it couldn't be all his fault.
Patience was a virtue, after all. And if Valerie was anything, it was a patient and resilient. Somehow, this whole thing would work out.
Somehow.