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tampered2007-02-08 10:14 pm
red-dragon-666.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2007-02-08 10:14 pm
Log; Complete
When; February 3rd; Evening.
Rating; PG-13 for language.
Characters; Elena [![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lady_turk] & Jr./Rubedo [red_dragon_666].
Summary; Jr. goes down to the underground to vent about Gaignun leaving, but it doesn't help much. Elena's attempt to comfort afterward is somewhat of a failure, but that's just because Jr.'s a stubborn SOB.
Log;
Jr: After leaving a note behind for Sakura and making sure she was safe in bed, Rubedo double checked the locks on the front door and ran off. He'd been out for a good two hours before finally making his way back up out of the Underground. The monster activity wasn't as bad as it had been the last time he went down there, but he usually didn't go down there looking for a fight.
With the way blood was splattered all over him, even his mostly red and brown ensemble couldn't hide it. He had to constantly rub at his eyes as he trudged wearily towards the nearest building, which just happened to be Elena's. He had mentioned dropping by, after all.
He just had to remember to not act as depressed as he felt. Neither of them liked it. So attempting to shake off his worn out appearance, he took the elevator up to her floor, looking rather sheepish about the blood he was tracking everywhere. Before he knocked on her door, the redhead crouched to untie his shoes, though his fingers were slick and kept slipping on the shoestrings. Finally, he pulled them off so he was just standing there in his socks, and finally knocked.
Elena: Having promised that her door would be open should Jr. choose to visit, Elena had decided to settle down on her couch wrapped up in a blanket with some coffee and a book she’d found a few days ago to wait it out. She didn’t know when he’d be over, but she was ready for him to come over at any time or until she heard from him again on the City’s computer network.
She had become rather engrossed into her reading when the blonde picked up the faint sounds of footsteps outside her door. Elena didn’t move from her spot though, until she heard a knock, and only then did she get up to let the person in, already having a good clue of who it was.
Once the door was opened though, the blonde couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, biting down on several other comments she could have made at that moment. She didn’t want to make things worse from the get-go, so instead she settled on something that would keep the mood light for a while yet.
“It looks like you had fun,” she remarked, stepping back and opening the door wider to let Jr. in. “Find anything good down there?”
Jr: With a sheepish grin, he stepped inside and set his boots just beside the door, glad there was no carpet right there to stain. He would have taken off his coat, too, but he didn't want to set that anywhere that would ruin her furniture. Plus, it was probably best if she didn't see the gash on his chest, and he'd been sure to buckle up the coat before entering.
"You might say that! I ran into one of those weird cage monsters again... Damn, those are scary. Like something right out of a horror book! And you know, there were some creepy nurse zombies, which were pretty easy to take down considering how slow they are. Got a little close encounter with something that looked like a friggin' chimera or something. It was pretty bitchin', actually. Mind if I go wash my hands so I can touch stuff in here without making it look like a murder scene?"
He was already heading into the kitchen and over to the sink.
Elena: Before Jr. could get very far however, Elena's arm had shot out to grab at the back of Jr.'s jacket collar. She didn’t have to pull him back any, rather simply letting the fact that she was holding him back to make him stop in his tracks.
While it was all very well and good that he knew of the state he appeared to be in, Elena wasn't going to have Jr. simply 'wash his hands in the sink.' Not if she had any say in the matter.
"You're going to need to wash more than just your hands if you plan to accomplish that," Elena stated, small smirk curling at the corners of her lips. If he was going to pretend that hard, then she'd do the same. What she wanted to do was check him over herself and ask him if he was really all right, but Elena had a feeling that saying so wouldn’t exactly go over well with the other. "You can borrow my shower instead. I think there's even some bubbles or oils you could use. Who knows, maybe you'll find something else that would interest you instead."
Elena might have been only suggesting it, but her tone didn't exactly suggest that she'd take 'no' for an answer. She was fully prepared to pick Jr. up and dump him in the shower herself if he insisted on arguing with her.
Besides, what she didn't mention was that she had a few medical supplies stored away in her bathroom, but she figured Jr. could make that connection on his own.
Jr: "Erk!" was the best thing he could respond with immediately, but that was just due to the fact that he'd been walking too fast to stop in time, and so the sudden hand holding him back caused mild strangulation.
In irritation, he whirled on her, mouth open as if ready to argue, but then he saw the stern look in her eyes. After standing there for nearly a minute just staring back at her with his arms crossed over his chest, he finally threw them up in the air and walked past her towards the bathroom. "Fine, fine! I get it. No bloodying up the apartment."
He did inwardly admit to being curious about the bath oils, but the 'something else' was a little more important. Once he was inside the bathroom, Rubedo sighed and unbuckled his coat to let it drop heavily to the floor. Next was his belt and holsters, and the rest of his clothing had to be peeled off more than anything. He had a feeling that shirt had seen the end of it's days.
Deciding a shower was more necessary than a bath in terms of getting him clean, he filed away the knowledge of bath oils for another time before turning on the shower and stepping in. The light scrapes and bruises he had stung a bit under the hot water, but the cut on his chest was the worst by far, and he just watched as the blood streamed off of him to bled into a weak pink color before swirling down the drain.
With a sigh, he ran his hands over his face and tried to push all his frustrating thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't like knowing Gaignun had left again... But what really weighed on him was knowing that he had left while they were still on thin ice with each other. Not to mention that Basara jerk. How was he supposed to return MOMO's memory now?
Elena: Satisfied when she heard the water running, Elena left to fetch some extra towels and to find something that Jr. could wear that wouldn't hang horribly off his smaller frame. At least she wouldn't have to worry about finding anything overly feminine, as she didn't own that many girly things to start with. Small blessing for the both of them on that note.
Even though Jr. had worn one of her shirts before, she didn't think he'd appreciate being offered one that would make him look like a girl anymore than he would one that made him seem smaller than he was. Finally finding a pair of pants that could be rolled up at the ankles and another buttoned up shirt that wasn't that much of a loose fit, Elena laid them on top of the towels she had gathered as well. Carrying the pile towards the bathroom, the blonde rapped on the door with the back of her hand, before calling out. "Jr.? I have some extra towels and some clothes that might work for when you get out. I'm putting them right outside the door. I'll either be in the living room or the kitchen when you're done."
So saying so, Elena placed her pile right outside the door and went off to make some more coffee for Jr. when he got out. Too bad she didn't have time to try and make any kind of baked good. Elena had found that having something on hand, despite not always managing to eat everything she made, was a better idea than having nothing. Cookies were the simplest, of course, but sometimes she ventured into other areas.
Her latest attempts however, a batch of fruit tarts, had been eaten and finished off only days before, so she didn't have anything ready on hand. It was surprisingly domestic of the Turk, but Elena had found that knowing how to cook was a very useful skill to have when a person was bored or frustrated.
Preparing another pot of coffee and gathering the necessary supplies, Elena let her thoughts wander to more mundane thoughts rather than the ones that would plague her if she let them. Her stomach was a small mess of emotions, but Elena was fairly skilled at handling and dissecting her emotions by now. Thinking too hard on any one matter never did her any good and it wouldn't do Jr. any good either. Best to just let things flow and see what happened then.
Jr: Rubedo nodded a bit when he heard what Elena had to say, even if she couldn't see it. He tried not to take a long shower, but the hot water beating on his shoulders really did a wonder on his tense muscles. Funny how 'venting' hadn't really relaxed him at all... Just worn him out so that it was slightly easier to not have to think too much.
Slightly.
Once out of the shower, and making sure that there was no blood left anywhere on the tile, he opened the door an inch to crouch down and pull the articles in that she'd left outside. With that small detail out of the way, he went about hunting down the first-aid kit he knew had to be in there somewhere, given Elena's former profession, and smiled when he found it. Something else, indeed.
The wound on his chest was treated first, because it was going to just make him all bloody again if it didn't get taken care of quickly, what with his blood pumping from the shower and all. First he decided to sit back and keep pressure on it for a good ten minutes before realizing he would actually need to wrap some gauze around himself due to the size of the cut. Not that deep, but definitely long.
It was irritating, but he managed with wrapping some around his left shoulder to keep it secure, and dried off the rest of his body before slapping some band-aids on the much more minor scrapes and tugging on the clothing she'd offered. Rubedo had to grin when he realized the clothing was pretty similar to his size, once he rolled the pants up a bit.
Next was the problem of his bloodied clothes, and he stared at them before deciding he would deal with them later. Coffee sounded good right then. What sounded even better was a beer, but he had a feeling Elena would get all suspicious if he asked.
So the young man crept outside, glancing in the living room before discovering her in the kitchen. "At this rate, maybe I just ought to keep some spare clothing over here."
Elena: Offering him a small smirk, Elena gestured for Jr. to help himself. The blonde's eyes had been immediately drawn towards the bandages that she could vaguely make out and the slight, uneven fall of the cloth of the shirt on Jr.'s frame. So she'd been right in guessing that not all of the blood had been from the monsters that lived down in the Underground.
At least none of them appeared to be serious as Elena could only make out the faint hints of injuries rather than anything too noticeable. Again though, she kept her comments to herself. Taking a sip of her own cup though, Elena couldn't help but wonder if Jr. would notice that she'd added an extra ingredient to the brew. Even though the blonde had sworn off alcohol only just previously, she figured that enough time had passed and that a little wouldn't hurt. She knew that it helped her relax and take that extra edge off after dealing with a lot of stress from one thing or another. So she couldn't see why it wouldn't help Jr. any, even if he might not notice right away that it was there.
Or maybe he would, but by then it'd be too late.
As the norm with them, Elena let the silence sit between them for a while before picking and choosing the words that she would say. There were a lot of things that could be said, but how much good any of those things would do was to be considered beforehand. Or she could simply blurt out the first thing that came to mind, but that wasn't always a good idea either. Not to say that it wasn’t ever a good idea, but in some cases, this being one of them, it really wasn't a good idea to follow along that path.
"Do you feel any better?' Elena asked, voicing the choice that seemed to be the safest topic to start from. There were the unspoken questions hanging in the air, but if Jr. wasn't ready or willing to talk about them right now, it could be put off until later in the conversation. Elena knew what it was like to have the people you cared about or had needed around to simply leave without a word of good-bye.
Last time that had happened to any extreme, the blonde had gone out to find some things to kill and then had gotten drunk. As it was now though, she just silently stewed and kept to herself, having gotten used to people leaving now.
Jr: Rubedo pursed his lips and stared down at the second cup of coffee he'd had since entering the kitchen, leaning back against the counter and trying to think of nothing important. It was somewhat of a relief when Elena finally broke the silence, but the question alone merely dragged his thoughts back to unpleasant territory.
It'd be really easy to lie, but there wasn't much point around her. "...Not really. Coffee's good, though." Lifting it up to take another drink, his gaze drifted over to her. The tension like this was never pleasant... It happened far too often in his opinion. Notably, in the kitchen. But the kitchen wasn't a bad place to talk. It had the drinks, after all.
And speaking of which, the URTV just had to grin a little as he quirked a brow at her over the rim of his mug. "What's in it? Bailey's?"
Elena: So he did notice. Elena couldn't help but smirk lightly and nodded, raising her own mug in an imitation of a toast. He'd guessed correctly. There were other mixes Elena could have gone for, but she wasn't going for knocking Jr. out. More just easing up the frazzled nerves the tension would leave the two of them with. "I would have done more, but I wanted to see if you'd actually notice that I'd done anything."
Taking a sip, Elena quickly mused on what to say next before the air grew stale and thick between them, having been lightened up a little with the casual jokes. 'I'm sorry,' would be rather condescending, as would 'Can I do anything to help.' Though 'Want to talk about it' didn't exactly fit with the two of them. Well, when in doubt...
"Do you want to help me bake something?"
Jr: Her suggestion alone made him shudder, and Rubedo was quick to wave his hand while shaking his head and draining his second cup of coffee.
"No thanks. Me and baking do not mix. I don't even think lessons would help me... I just can't sit still for that long." Well, he couldn't unless he was reading or brooding over something, and then he usually got so caught up in what he was doing that he let whatever was baking totally burn.
It was just never a good thing.
After grabbing the pot to pour himself a third, and he decided last, cup of coffee, Rubedo turned to wander out of the kitchen. "You can bake if you want. I'm going to see what's on television."
Elena: Laughing lightly at the immediate reaction her mild suggestion had brought forth, Elena mentally debated on actually baking something by herself and to let Jr. entertain himself in whatever ways he could, or to follow him and just wait until he decided he wanted to talk, if he even wanted to do that.
Taking a look around her kitchen for a moment, Elena decided she'd have plenty of time later to practice her domestic skills and was just going to make herself into a nuisance instead. "It was only a suggestion. I do enough baking anyways," Elena stated, leaving her cup in the kitchen. Jr. had almost drunk the entire pot anyways. There really wasn't any point in carrying around a mouthful or two of coffee around.
Seeing Jr. having settled himself on her couch, looking like for all the world he belonged there rather than anywhere else, Elena sat back down in the same spot she'd been occupying earlier, draped the blanket over her lap, picked up her book and started to read again. "I hope you don't mind if I join you in wasting time as well."
One of the two of them would crack eventually, or maybe neither would until late became almost early, but either way, it was nice to have company around.
Jr: Rubedo had gotten plenty comfortable by the time she joined him, with his bare feet propped up on the coffee table, and one elbow resting behind him on the back of the couch to lazily channel surf while he sipped at his coffee with his free hand.
He let it go like that for awhile, at least until he'd gone through every channel once, not really watching what flickered by, considering he passed one old cowboy movie and two action shows without even batting an eye. Finally, when he was on the second round of surfing, his mug was empty, and the liquor had settled in to bring about a warm and hazy feeling, Rubedo sighed.
"He still wasn't happy with me...when he left. We haven't spoken much since he...had his little peep show. I don't like that...we didn't get a chance to talk about it. He's probably on the Durandal right now cursing my name to Shelley or something. Or at least he would be if the bastard ever expressed emotion."
Elena: She may have been reading her book, but she wasn't oblivious to the world around her. So when Jr. started speaking, Elena was quick to look up from her book and listen to the words being spoken and not need a second retelling.
Making a small frown, Elena felt her brow crease in puzzlement. Was Jr. really having such a hard time seeing what was right in front of him? Or maybe he just couldn't see it because of past history? She understood that he was upset at not being able to resolves their differences but it wasn't like Jr. was trapped in the City and it wasn't like Gaignun was dead either.
"You're brothers, and from what I've heard and seen, rather close ones at that. Even if you have your differences now and you can't fix them right away now that you two are separated, you'll be able to eventually. He can't hold something like that against you forever. And even if he acted like he did, I doubt he really does."
Personal experience let Elena speak her mind as if what she was saying was a simple truth, but it was also observation on the blonde's part at how she'd seen each of the siblings' reaction to Jr.'s presence and whenever something happened to him.
Jr: Elena's words did little to comfort him, but the tapping of the UP button on the remote had slowed down considerably. He didn't seem to look particularly upset, though. There was a rather vague, empty relaxation to his features, despite the heartfelt concerns he was letting out.
"Yeah, but until then? Gaignun and I don't keep a lot of secrets from each other... Not on the big stuff, anyway. But he was keeping something from me lately, and I didn't even want to ask. It hasn't been like that between us since the Miltian Conflict. And right now, we've got another war going on... Or really the same war that's just completely blown out of proportion, and if Gaignun's going to make up for me not being there to help everyone, he's going to need his wits about him. And if I know him, he's going to act like everything's fine...but he might let his emotions get the best of him and make a wrong decision."
Gripping the remote tightly, he stared at an infomercial on the television for a long moment before flinging the remote right at the screen. "Wrong decisions can't be made by us, especially during a time like this! It could cost thousands of lives, either on the Durandal, or the Foundation, or even Second Miltia! And then if that happens, he wouldn't be able to live with himself! The last thing I need is him turning into me, with all those fucking lives on his hands, and it wouldn't be that way if he'd just stopped being a tightass prick and opened up to me! And he left his fucking tie, to boot!"
Elena: And now we've reached the heart of the matter.
Elena, closing her book and resting it in her lap, let Jr. vent passively, a small part of her wanting to ease Jr.'s anger somehow, but the greater part of her knew better than to do something like that. It was best that he get all of this off his chest now, while he could, before it gave Jr. the chance to brood and work himself up into an even greater fit than the one he was in now and then do something completely stupid.
At least now he was still reasonable to deal with. Had he waited though, Elena wasn't sure what his reaction might have been. Or how she'd deal with him then.
When Jr. seemed to have finished talking, Elena gave him another few moments to make sure just in case, before she began speaking. In the same manner that she had at the door, she spoke now. She knew Jr. was upset, but it was more than just being upset about being left behind. Because of that, she had to handle and give her advice in a different way.
"I think leaders who think they can't ever make a wrong decision often lose something in the process of trying to never make a wrong decision. Even when those decisions are shared, they're going to lose something. And in losing that, they'll ultimately fail in the end."
She spoke calmly and clearly, not raising her voice, and keeping a level gaze on Jr.'s form, whether he looked at her or not. She was giving her version of a slap on the face, only with words rather than an actual physical action. "A better leader would be someone who's willing to make sacrifices, even if they are painful or heartless to make. It's someone who has more than one back-up plan in case things DO go wrong, because rather than worry about it; they either do something about it or have a way to work around what went wrong. One who trust and believes in the people who are helping them reach their goals. More things will go wrong and more people will die if you think too much about what's going to go wrong and what is wrong than on what you can do."
Finished now with the lecture part of her little speech, Elena added in the last bit just to show that she was still herself and that she wasn't going to take everything without some kind of comeback. "And you can just use the tie to make him tell you next time you see him then."
Jr: Elena's speech didn't go unheard, but it was still so hard to compute when his anger was practically crackling off of him. Anger, hurt, and concern. It was a combination that made for an unhappy Rubedo.
Pulling his feet up onto the couch, he drew his knees to his chest to hug them while he stared at the blaring television screen. At least he hadn't broken it. That was a good thing.
"You think I don't know that sacrifices need to be made? I rarely get times to think of back up plans... Of plans to get around failed plans. There's always that snap decision, and it's figuring out who I'm willing to let die. All my siblings, or an entire planet? Should I choose between the few, or the many?"
Shutting his eyes, his bangs ruffled a bit as he bumped his forehead against his knee. "Why's it gotta be like that? What makes it okay? There's never any excuse, no matter how you pretty up the reasoning. I never chose to be the leader. It was decided for me. But that's...how it played out. And it should be my burden. Gaignun shouldn't have to...deal with it..."
Elena: Now Elena's eyes softened as she looked at Jr.'s dejected form. She was blunt and serious and spoke her mind, but the blonde never claimed to be the best advice giver, nor did she claim to understand everything another person had to go through.
She supposed, in a way, she was lucky that she wasn't exactly in charge the way Jr. was, so she'd never have to dwell too much on choices like that. Her choices were somewhat free to be selfish, regardless of what the consequences were.
Moving so that she could put an arm over Jr.'s shoulders, Elena lowered her voice and couldn't help but shrug. "There's never going to be anything to make any choice okay. I don't see why you should have to choose either, but neither one would be an easy choice to make. With or without planning. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't think you knew about sacrifices. Truthfully, I respect those who can make those kinds of choices."
Resting her blonde head on top of Jr.'s red one, Elena sighed softly and gave a squeeze. "I've always been selfish so the choices I make are those that I would rather deal with than those that I should deal with. So I can't completely understand what you'd have to go through. Especially when it comes to Gaignun. But I can always selfishly want to do anything I can to help make the choices for those who do."
Jr: Rubedo's fingertips dug into his knees as he listened to her words, and he had to bite his lip to keep from spitting out a venomous remark that was just on the tip of his tongue.
Like giving up your life?
But he swallowed and kept it down. Getting back into that would just be cruel and pointless. He needed to be searching for solutions, not snapping about the past.
Of course, the solution he'd found for MOMO seemed to have flown the coop.
Suddenly, the tide of emotions drained out of him, and he sighed, relaxing enough to finally lean back into her light embrace. Talking about it anymore would just do him in for good.
"Can I just rest a bit? I won't stay the whole night."
Elena: Elena felt Jr. tense and she figured that if he said anything, it probably wouldn't be anything very nice to hear and needlessly start him up again, but instead he said nothing. She was surprised, but didn't press it.
That small knot of emotions all agreed that it was better not to push just then. In all honesty, she had probably made a royal asshole of herself with saying the things she had, but again. She never claimed to be the best person to come to for advice.
Nodding just the tiniest bit at Jr.'s request, Elena didn't move from her spot on the couch. If he wanted to leave, she wouldn't stop him, but if he wanted to stay, she wouldn't push him away either. "Sure. Whatever you'd like."
Rating; PG-13 for language.
Characters; Elena [
lady_turk] & Jr./Rubedo [red_dragon_666].Summary; Jr. goes down to the underground to vent about Gaignun leaving, but it doesn't help much. Elena's attempt to comfort afterward is somewhat of a failure, but that's just because Jr.'s a stubborn SOB.
Log;
Jr: After leaving a note behind for Sakura and making sure she was safe in bed, Rubedo double checked the locks on the front door and ran off. He'd been out for a good two hours before finally making his way back up out of the Underground. The monster activity wasn't as bad as it had been the last time he went down there, but he usually didn't go down there looking for a fight.
With the way blood was splattered all over him, even his mostly red and brown ensemble couldn't hide it. He had to constantly rub at his eyes as he trudged wearily towards the nearest building, which just happened to be Elena's. He had mentioned dropping by, after all.
He just had to remember to not act as depressed as he felt. Neither of them liked it. So attempting to shake off his worn out appearance, he took the elevator up to her floor, looking rather sheepish about the blood he was tracking everywhere. Before he knocked on her door, the redhead crouched to untie his shoes, though his fingers were slick and kept slipping on the shoestrings. Finally, he pulled them off so he was just standing there in his socks, and finally knocked.
Elena: Having promised that her door would be open should Jr. choose to visit, Elena had decided to settle down on her couch wrapped up in a blanket with some coffee and a book she’d found a few days ago to wait it out. She didn’t know when he’d be over, but she was ready for him to come over at any time or until she heard from him again on the City’s computer network.
She had become rather engrossed into her reading when the blonde picked up the faint sounds of footsteps outside her door. Elena didn’t move from her spot though, until she heard a knock, and only then did she get up to let the person in, already having a good clue of who it was.
Once the door was opened though, the blonde couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, biting down on several other comments she could have made at that moment. She didn’t want to make things worse from the get-go, so instead she settled on something that would keep the mood light for a while yet.
“It looks like you had fun,” she remarked, stepping back and opening the door wider to let Jr. in. “Find anything good down there?”
Jr: With a sheepish grin, he stepped inside and set his boots just beside the door, glad there was no carpet right there to stain. He would have taken off his coat, too, but he didn't want to set that anywhere that would ruin her furniture. Plus, it was probably best if she didn't see the gash on his chest, and he'd been sure to buckle up the coat before entering.
"You might say that! I ran into one of those weird cage monsters again... Damn, those are scary. Like something right out of a horror book! And you know, there were some creepy nurse zombies, which were pretty easy to take down considering how slow they are. Got a little close encounter with something that looked like a friggin' chimera or something. It was pretty bitchin', actually. Mind if I go wash my hands so I can touch stuff in here without making it look like a murder scene?"
He was already heading into the kitchen and over to the sink.
Elena: Before Jr. could get very far however, Elena's arm had shot out to grab at the back of Jr.'s jacket collar. She didn’t have to pull him back any, rather simply letting the fact that she was holding him back to make him stop in his tracks.
While it was all very well and good that he knew of the state he appeared to be in, Elena wasn't going to have Jr. simply 'wash his hands in the sink.' Not if she had any say in the matter.
"You're going to need to wash more than just your hands if you plan to accomplish that," Elena stated, small smirk curling at the corners of her lips. If he was going to pretend that hard, then she'd do the same. What she wanted to do was check him over herself and ask him if he was really all right, but Elena had a feeling that saying so wouldn’t exactly go over well with the other. "You can borrow my shower instead. I think there's even some bubbles or oils you could use. Who knows, maybe you'll find something else that would interest you instead."
Elena might have been only suggesting it, but her tone didn't exactly suggest that she'd take 'no' for an answer. She was fully prepared to pick Jr. up and dump him in the shower herself if he insisted on arguing with her.
Besides, what she didn't mention was that she had a few medical supplies stored away in her bathroom, but she figured Jr. could make that connection on his own.
Jr: "Erk!" was the best thing he could respond with immediately, but that was just due to the fact that he'd been walking too fast to stop in time, and so the sudden hand holding him back caused mild strangulation.
In irritation, he whirled on her, mouth open as if ready to argue, but then he saw the stern look in her eyes. After standing there for nearly a minute just staring back at her with his arms crossed over his chest, he finally threw them up in the air and walked past her towards the bathroom. "Fine, fine! I get it. No bloodying up the apartment."
He did inwardly admit to being curious about the bath oils, but the 'something else' was a little more important. Once he was inside the bathroom, Rubedo sighed and unbuckled his coat to let it drop heavily to the floor. Next was his belt and holsters, and the rest of his clothing had to be peeled off more than anything. He had a feeling that shirt had seen the end of it's days.
Deciding a shower was more necessary than a bath in terms of getting him clean, he filed away the knowledge of bath oils for another time before turning on the shower and stepping in. The light scrapes and bruises he had stung a bit under the hot water, but the cut on his chest was the worst by far, and he just watched as the blood streamed off of him to bled into a weak pink color before swirling down the drain.
With a sigh, he ran his hands over his face and tried to push all his frustrating thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't like knowing Gaignun had left again... But what really weighed on him was knowing that he had left while they were still on thin ice with each other. Not to mention that Basara jerk. How was he supposed to return MOMO's memory now?
Elena: Satisfied when she heard the water running, Elena left to fetch some extra towels and to find something that Jr. could wear that wouldn't hang horribly off his smaller frame. At least she wouldn't have to worry about finding anything overly feminine, as she didn't own that many girly things to start with. Small blessing for the both of them on that note.
Even though Jr. had worn one of her shirts before, she didn't think he'd appreciate being offered one that would make him look like a girl anymore than he would one that made him seem smaller than he was. Finally finding a pair of pants that could be rolled up at the ankles and another buttoned up shirt that wasn't that much of a loose fit, Elena laid them on top of the towels she had gathered as well. Carrying the pile towards the bathroom, the blonde rapped on the door with the back of her hand, before calling out. "Jr.? I have some extra towels and some clothes that might work for when you get out. I'm putting them right outside the door. I'll either be in the living room or the kitchen when you're done."
So saying so, Elena placed her pile right outside the door and went off to make some more coffee for Jr. when he got out. Too bad she didn't have time to try and make any kind of baked good. Elena had found that having something on hand, despite not always managing to eat everything she made, was a better idea than having nothing. Cookies were the simplest, of course, but sometimes she ventured into other areas.
Her latest attempts however, a batch of fruit tarts, had been eaten and finished off only days before, so she didn't have anything ready on hand. It was surprisingly domestic of the Turk, but Elena had found that knowing how to cook was a very useful skill to have when a person was bored or frustrated.
Preparing another pot of coffee and gathering the necessary supplies, Elena let her thoughts wander to more mundane thoughts rather than the ones that would plague her if she let them. Her stomach was a small mess of emotions, but Elena was fairly skilled at handling and dissecting her emotions by now. Thinking too hard on any one matter never did her any good and it wouldn't do Jr. any good either. Best to just let things flow and see what happened then.
Jr: Rubedo nodded a bit when he heard what Elena had to say, even if she couldn't see it. He tried not to take a long shower, but the hot water beating on his shoulders really did a wonder on his tense muscles. Funny how 'venting' hadn't really relaxed him at all... Just worn him out so that it was slightly easier to not have to think too much.
Slightly.
Once out of the shower, and making sure that there was no blood left anywhere on the tile, he opened the door an inch to crouch down and pull the articles in that she'd left outside. With that small detail out of the way, he went about hunting down the first-aid kit he knew had to be in there somewhere, given Elena's former profession, and smiled when he found it. Something else, indeed.
The wound on his chest was treated first, because it was going to just make him all bloody again if it didn't get taken care of quickly, what with his blood pumping from the shower and all. First he decided to sit back and keep pressure on it for a good ten minutes before realizing he would actually need to wrap some gauze around himself due to the size of the cut. Not that deep, but definitely long.
It was irritating, but he managed with wrapping some around his left shoulder to keep it secure, and dried off the rest of his body before slapping some band-aids on the much more minor scrapes and tugging on the clothing she'd offered. Rubedo had to grin when he realized the clothing was pretty similar to his size, once he rolled the pants up a bit.
Next was the problem of his bloodied clothes, and he stared at them before deciding he would deal with them later. Coffee sounded good right then. What sounded even better was a beer, but he had a feeling Elena would get all suspicious if he asked.
So the young man crept outside, glancing in the living room before discovering her in the kitchen. "At this rate, maybe I just ought to keep some spare clothing over here."
Elena: Offering him a small smirk, Elena gestured for Jr. to help himself. The blonde's eyes had been immediately drawn towards the bandages that she could vaguely make out and the slight, uneven fall of the cloth of the shirt on Jr.'s frame. So she'd been right in guessing that not all of the blood had been from the monsters that lived down in the Underground.
At least none of them appeared to be serious as Elena could only make out the faint hints of injuries rather than anything too noticeable. Again though, she kept her comments to herself. Taking a sip of her own cup though, Elena couldn't help but wonder if Jr. would notice that she'd added an extra ingredient to the brew. Even though the blonde had sworn off alcohol only just previously, she figured that enough time had passed and that a little wouldn't hurt. She knew that it helped her relax and take that extra edge off after dealing with a lot of stress from one thing or another. So she couldn't see why it wouldn't help Jr. any, even if he might not notice right away that it was there.
Or maybe he would, but by then it'd be too late.
As the norm with them, Elena let the silence sit between them for a while before picking and choosing the words that she would say. There were a lot of things that could be said, but how much good any of those things would do was to be considered beforehand. Or she could simply blurt out the first thing that came to mind, but that wasn't always a good idea either. Not to say that it wasn’t ever a good idea, but in some cases, this being one of them, it really wasn't a good idea to follow along that path.
"Do you feel any better?' Elena asked, voicing the choice that seemed to be the safest topic to start from. There were the unspoken questions hanging in the air, but if Jr. wasn't ready or willing to talk about them right now, it could be put off until later in the conversation. Elena knew what it was like to have the people you cared about or had needed around to simply leave without a word of good-bye.
Last time that had happened to any extreme, the blonde had gone out to find some things to kill and then had gotten drunk. As it was now though, she just silently stewed and kept to herself, having gotten used to people leaving now.
Jr: Rubedo pursed his lips and stared down at the second cup of coffee he'd had since entering the kitchen, leaning back against the counter and trying to think of nothing important. It was somewhat of a relief when Elena finally broke the silence, but the question alone merely dragged his thoughts back to unpleasant territory.
It'd be really easy to lie, but there wasn't much point around her. "...Not really. Coffee's good, though." Lifting it up to take another drink, his gaze drifted over to her. The tension like this was never pleasant... It happened far too often in his opinion. Notably, in the kitchen. But the kitchen wasn't a bad place to talk. It had the drinks, after all.
And speaking of which, the URTV just had to grin a little as he quirked a brow at her over the rim of his mug. "What's in it? Bailey's?"
Elena: So he did notice. Elena couldn't help but smirk lightly and nodded, raising her own mug in an imitation of a toast. He'd guessed correctly. There were other mixes Elena could have gone for, but she wasn't going for knocking Jr. out. More just easing up the frazzled nerves the tension would leave the two of them with. "I would have done more, but I wanted to see if you'd actually notice that I'd done anything."
Taking a sip, Elena quickly mused on what to say next before the air grew stale and thick between them, having been lightened up a little with the casual jokes. 'I'm sorry,' would be rather condescending, as would 'Can I do anything to help.' Though 'Want to talk about it' didn't exactly fit with the two of them. Well, when in doubt...
"Do you want to help me bake something?"
Jr: Her suggestion alone made him shudder, and Rubedo was quick to wave his hand while shaking his head and draining his second cup of coffee.
"No thanks. Me and baking do not mix. I don't even think lessons would help me... I just can't sit still for that long." Well, he couldn't unless he was reading or brooding over something, and then he usually got so caught up in what he was doing that he let whatever was baking totally burn.
It was just never a good thing.
After grabbing the pot to pour himself a third, and he decided last, cup of coffee, Rubedo turned to wander out of the kitchen. "You can bake if you want. I'm going to see what's on television."
Elena: Laughing lightly at the immediate reaction her mild suggestion had brought forth, Elena mentally debated on actually baking something by herself and to let Jr. entertain himself in whatever ways he could, or to follow him and just wait until he decided he wanted to talk, if he even wanted to do that.
Taking a look around her kitchen for a moment, Elena decided she'd have plenty of time later to practice her domestic skills and was just going to make herself into a nuisance instead. "It was only a suggestion. I do enough baking anyways," Elena stated, leaving her cup in the kitchen. Jr. had almost drunk the entire pot anyways. There really wasn't any point in carrying around a mouthful or two of coffee around.
Seeing Jr. having settled himself on her couch, looking like for all the world he belonged there rather than anywhere else, Elena sat back down in the same spot she'd been occupying earlier, draped the blanket over her lap, picked up her book and started to read again. "I hope you don't mind if I join you in wasting time as well."
One of the two of them would crack eventually, or maybe neither would until late became almost early, but either way, it was nice to have company around.
Jr: Rubedo had gotten plenty comfortable by the time she joined him, with his bare feet propped up on the coffee table, and one elbow resting behind him on the back of the couch to lazily channel surf while he sipped at his coffee with his free hand.
He let it go like that for awhile, at least until he'd gone through every channel once, not really watching what flickered by, considering he passed one old cowboy movie and two action shows without even batting an eye. Finally, when he was on the second round of surfing, his mug was empty, and the liquor had settled in to bring about a warm and hazy feeling, Rubedo sighed.
"He still wasn't happy with me...when he left. We haven't spoken much since he...had his little peep show. I don't like that...we didn't get a chance to talk about it. He's probably on the Durandal right now cursing my name to Shelley or something. Or at least he would be if the bastard ever expressed emotion."
Elena: She may have been reading her book, but she wasn't oblivious to the world around her. So when Jr. started speaking, Elena was quick to look up from her book and listen to the words being spoken and not need a second retelling.
Making a small frown, Elena felt her brow crease in puzzlement. Was Jr. really having such a hard time seeing what was right in front of him? Or maybe he just couldn't see it because of past history? She understood that he was upset at not being able to resolves their differences but it wasn't like Jr. was trapped in the City and it wasn't like Gaignun was dead either.
"You're brothers, and from what I've heard and seen, rather close ones at that. Even if you have your differences now and you can't fix them right away now that you two are separated, you'll be able to eventually. He can't hold something like that against you forever. And even if he acted like he did, I doubt he really does."
Personal experience let Elena speak her mind as if what she was saying was a simple truth, but it was also observation on the blonde's part at how she'd seen each of the siblings' reaction to Jr.'s presence and whenever something happened to him.
Jr: Elena's words did little to comfort him, but the tapping of the UP button on the remote had slowed down considerably. He didn't seem to look particularly upset, though. There was a rather vague, empty relaxation to his features, despite the heartfelt concerns he was letting out.
"Yeah, but until then? Gaignun and I don't keep a lot of secrets from each other... Not on the big stuff, anyway. But he was keeping something from me lately, and I didn't even want to ask. It hasn't been like that between us since the Miltian Conflict. And right now, we've got another war going on... Or really the same war that's just completely blown out of proportion, and if Gaignun's going to make up for me not being there to help everyone, he's going to need his wits about him. And if I know him, he's going to act like everything's fine...but he might let his emotions get the best of him and make a wrong decision."
Gripping the remote tightly, he stared at an infomercial on the television for a long moment before flinging the remote right at the screen. "Wrong decisions can't be made by us, especially during a time like this! It could cost thousands of lives, either on the Durandal, or the Foundation, or even Second Miltia! And then if that happens, he wouldn't be able to live with himself! The last thing I need is him turning into me, with all those fucking lives on his hands, and it wouldn't be that way if he'd just stopped being a tightass prick and opened up to me! And he left his fucking tie, to boot!"
Elena: And now we've reached the heart of the matter.
Elena, closing her book and resting it in her lap, let Jr. vent passively, a small part of her wanting to ease Jr.'s anger somehow, but the greater part of her knew better than to do something like that. It was best that he get all of this off his chest now, while he could, before it gave Jr. the chance to brood and work himself up into an even greater fit than the one he was in now and then do something completely stupid.
At least now he was still reasonable to deal with. Had he waited though, Elena wasn't sure what his reaction might have been. Or how she'd deal with him then.
When Jr. seemed to have finished talking, Elena gave him another few moments to make sure just in case, before she began speaking. In the same manner that she had at the door, she spoke now. She knew Jr. was upset, but it was more than just being upset about being left behind. Because of that, she had to handle and give her advice in a different way.
"I think leaders who think they can't ever make a wrong decision often lose something in the process of trying to never make a wrong decision. Even when those decisions are shared, they're going to lose something. And in losing that, they'll ultimately fail in the end."
She spoke calmly and clearly, not raising her voice, and keeping a level gaze on Jr.'s form, whether he looked at her or not. She was giving her version of a slap on the face, only with words rather than an actual physical action. "A better leader would be someone who's willing to make sacrifices, even if they are painful or heartless to make. It's someone who has more than one back-up plan in case things DO go wrong, because rather than worry about it; they either do something about it or have a way to work around what went wrong. One who trust and believes in the people who are helping them reach their goals. More things will go wrong and more people will die if you think too much about what's going to go wrong and what is wrong than on what you can do."
Finished now with the lecture part of her little speech, Elena added in the last bit just to show that she was still herself and that she wasn't going to take everything without some kind of comeback. "And you can just use the tie to make him tell you next time you see him then."
Jr: Elena's speech didn't go unheard, but it was still so hard to compute when his anger was practically crackling off of him. Anger, hurt, and concern. It was a combination that made for an unhappy Rubedo.
Pulling his feet up onto the couch, he drew his knees to his chest to hug them while he stared at the blaring television screen. At least he hadn't broken it. That was a good thing.
"You think I don't know that sacrifices need to be made? I rarely get times to think of back up plans... Of plans to get around failed plans. There's always that snap decision, and it's figuring out who I'm willing to let die. All my siblings, or an entire planet? Should I choose between the few, or the many?"
Shutting his eyes, his bangs ruffled a bit as he bumped his forehead against his knee. "Why's it gotta be like that? What makes it okay? There's never any excuse, no matter how you pretty up the reasoning. I never chose to be the leader. It was decided for me. But that's...how it played out. And it should be my burden. Gaignun shouldn't have to...deal with it..."
Elena: Now Elena's eyes softened as she looked at Jr.'s dejected form. She was blunt and serious and spoke her mind, but the blonde never claimed to be the best advice giver, nor did she claim to understand everything another person had to go through.
She supposed, in a way, she was lucky that she wasn't exactly in charge the way Jr. was, so she'd never have to dwell too much on choices like that. Her choices were somewhat free to be selfish, regardless of what the consequences were.
Moving so that she could put an arm over Jr.'s shoulders, Elena lowered her voice and couldn't help but shrug. "There's never going to be anything to make any choice okay. I don't see why you should have to choose either, but neither one would be an easy choice to make. With or without planning. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't think you knew about sacrifices. Truthfully, I respect those who can make those kinds of choices."
Resting her blonde head on top of Jr.'s red one, Elena sighed softly and gave a squeeze. "I've always been selfish so the choices I make are those that I would rather deal with than those that I should deal with. So I can't completely understand what you'd have to go through. Especially when it comes to Gaignun. But I can always selfishly want to do anything I can to help make the choices for those who do."
Jr: Rubedo's fingertips dug into his knees as he listened to her words, and he had to bite his lip to keep from spitting out a venomous remark that was just on the tip of his tongue.
Like giving up your life?
But he swallowed and kept it down. Getting back into that would just be cruel and pointless. He needed to be searching for solutions, not snapping about the past.
Of course, the solution he'd found for MOMO seemed to have flown the coop.
Suddenly, the tide of emotions drained out of him, and he sighed, relaxing enough to finally lean back into her light embrace. Talking about it anymore would just do him in for good.
"Can I just rest a bit? I won't stay the whole night."
Elena: Elena felt Jr. tense and she figured that if he said anything, it probably wouldn't be anything very nice to hear and needlessly start him up again, but instead he said nothing. She was surprised, but didn't press it.
That small knot of emotions all agreed that it was better not to push just then. In all honesty, she had probably made a royal asshole of herself with saying the things she had, but again. She never claimed to be the best person to come to for advice.
Nodding just the tiniest bit at Jr.'s request, Elena didn't move from her spot on the couch. If he wanted to leave, she wouldn't stop him, but if he wanted to stay, she wouldn't push him away either. "Sure. Whatever you'd like."