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Post by crazypunka on Jul 2, 2007 10:57:49 GMT -5
Today was the day that Dahlia had come back. After a month of living at the house, she had decided that things were probably safe enough for her to head back to her home in Astoria, if not just to collect some items of importance from her previous home, and to say goodbye to her previous life. While this may not have been a wise decision, because whatever threat Dahlia perceived the scientists to pose was probably much less than the actual threat that existed. But nevertheless, she was blessed with great luck.
The trip had been a great success. Although the drive was long and boring, she arrived at her house to find things surprisingly the same, except for the mailbox overflowing with mail, some of which were uncashed paychecks from Wal-mart. A pleasant surprise.
She took a few days to collect some of her things, clothes, pictures, and other important affects that she'd had to leave behind in her panicked escape. Once she had everything boxed up and packed into the car, she stayed one extra night in the house, sleeping in her parent's bed, though she spent most of the time crying instead of sleeping.
She left reluctantly, wishing she could stay there forever, breathing in what little smell was left of her parents in their bed, but knowing that the longer she stayed, the less safe it was for her.
So, with a heavy heart she said one final goodbye to the house at 3719, Auburn Ave. and made her way back to Kentucky. The trip back had given her some time to think, and plenty of time to cry, so by the time she arrived in front of The House, she was spectacularly numb.
She pulled up, parking her car across the street as she always did, and stole up to her room with all that she could carry (without looking suspicious) in her arms.
With her hands full, Dahlia had to open the door mentally, and step through the threshold into her and Guadalupe's room. Upon entering, she thought for the first time about Guadalupe, about Adrian, Zephyr, Eric, and the others. She thought about how inconsiderate it had been for her to not have told them her plans. She wondered now if anyone had even noticed her absence... Surely Guadalupe had, she shared a room with her after all. But the others?
She placed the box by her dresser and went over to her bed, made carefully the exact way she'd left it. With as little energy as possible, Dahlia laid face down onto the bed, arms straight against her sides with palms up, legs straight out and pressed against one another.
She breathed in deeply, which was hard with her nose buried in her pillow. She felt so drained, in every way. She felt like crying, but didn't have the energy. So instead, she settled for laying there, numb, and unthinking.
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Post by Souleh on Jul 4, 2007 18:53:05 GMT -5
Well, this was interesting. From where he wheeled above the House, Adrian watched a familiar vehicle pull up, and an equally familiar young lady enter his home, carrying enough that it was easy to suppose she planned on staying. Quickly deciding that exercise was utterly unimportant and a waste of time, he folded his wings in and dove, plummeting into the backyard. Pulling up, he landed quite gracefully, falling immediately into a walk.
Much like Dahlia had not bothered with thoughts of him, the mockingbird had not given her much thought. There had been, of course, a brief period after she had disappeared that he had worried, pondered late at night when he couldn't sleep whether she had simply left for some reason or if she had been caught. He had eventually comforted himself with the fact that many, many residents disappeared without warning, and judging by those that came back, it was often to see to personal affairs. With that in mind, he had promptly dropped all worry and proceeded to get on with his life without giving the psy another thought.
Except, perhaps, when he was particularly lonely and missing the time when he almost had friends.
It was the loneliness that he fixated on while he headed up the stairs, quite suddenly displeased with her for what could easily be called abandonment. Any remaining worry comforted by her return, Adrian was free to consider that she had simply run off without mentioning it, leaving him, and certainly a number of others, behind to worry that she was suffering in a lab somewhere. He resolved to give her a good chewing out for being so very, very thoughtless.
Only, then he arrived at her doorway, and was greeted by a less than promising sight. It occurred to him that it might be best to tread carefully, and, well, /not/ be a phenomenal jerk at their first contact. Fancy that. So instead of jumping into a flurry of wild accusations, he settled for knocking on the doorframe and speaking just barely louder than he had to, in case she was zoned out, “I see you’re back.”
OoC: Woulda been much better if I wasn't interrupted last night. Train of thought derailed like woahz.
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Post by crazypunka on Jul 4, 2007 19:20:29 GMT -5
((It was good, no worries. Sorry for my post, I was listening to music at the time so if things are weird sounding, that's why.))
Dahlia's head was removed from the pillow it had been buried in, turning towards the knock and a voice that didn't take her more than a millisecond to place.
"Hey Adrian." She smiled weakly at him, pulling her arms up from her sides and pushing herself up onto her knees, then rolling over into a sitting position. One leg dangled off the side of the bed, the other foot pulled close into the inseam of her shorts. "How're you doing? You look good." She looked him over briefly, deciding he looked almost exactly the same as he had when she'd left.
She was surprised really that anyone had noticed her absence. Surprised, but pleasantly so. She'd really only been gone for a week or a little longer, but it had seemed like forever. The time she'd spent in her old home seemed to stand still while she was there. Possibly because it was like a piece of her past life, that had remained intact while she moved on to a new life. It seemed as though the house itself had frozen in time, awaiting her return. She knew only too well that her house's state wouldn't stay that way for long. Soon the lack of mortgage payments would mean a foreclosure on the house, and that would mean new residents. Who it was that would be cleaning out the house for sale she didn't know. And it was probably best that way- she may have disemboweled them if she'd known.
But that was the purpose of her trip back home. To say goodbye to her parents, her house, her old life. To say goodbye, and try to start with a fresh slate, to try and not be bitter about the course of events that had brought her to where she now was. It wasn't easy saying goodbye, and it was even harder to not be bitter. But she'd try.
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Post by Souleh on Jul 4, 2007 20:25:39 GMT -5
OoC: Is otay. Didn't sound weird at all.
He smiled slightly at the compliment, offering up a quiet "thank you" and generally enjoying the whole concept of looking good. Adrian put a lot of effort into it, after all, and didn't get much appreciation in return. He let his good looking self into her room, wandering closer to her, only to wind up standing awkwardly in the middle of her floor, unsure as to whether he was allowed to hop onto her bed and sit next to her.
Ah, but there was a question to be addressed. "I'm...fine. Nothing much has changed." He made an odd, rather vague gesture with his hand, sort of sweeping and rolling all at once, almost as though to indicate the House or to bow, minus the actual bow. He couldn't resist, however, to add in a properly guilt trip inducing voice, "Perhaps a bit...lonely. Not many people to hang about with. I keep mostly to myself." Because he was abandoned. All alone. Woe is he.
He sighed softly, scratched a little itch on his upper arm, at the very edge of his feathers, and pressed on. "And how are you?" More importantly, "Where did you disappear to? I mean, if you don't mind my asking." Adrian was so ridiculously proud of himself, he was being ever so polite and such a very, very good boy. All he had to do was keep in mind that he was almost sort of friends with Dahlia, at least more than he was with just about anyone else in the House, and he could manage to /not/ bxtch her out for skipping off to the gods know where.
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Post by crazypunka on Jul 4, 2007 22:13:56 GMT -5
Dahlia pushed herself up and scooted back closer to the wall, clearing a space for Adrian on the bed. "Have a seat." She offered indicating the empty spot with a tip of her head.
She frowned slightly when he'd mentioned that he'd been lonely. She was about to apologize and ask where Crispin was when he asked her why she'd left.
Leaning back against the wall, Dahlia let her head loll backwards until it hit the wall lightly. "I'm alright." She answered him with a lie, although what was she supposed to say? 'I'm feeling awful and self-pitying because my parents are dead.'? No, she'd just play it off. There was no need for anyone else to carry her burden. Especially someone who was already so burdened himself.
"I went back home to get some things, before it was too late." She looked at him without tilting her head downward, and didn't elaborate anymore than those few words. "Sorry I didn't tell you, or anyone. I didn't mean to make you worried- or lonely." This time she did remove the back of her head from the wall, and tilted it down to gaze at Adrian. Did her absence really make him that lonely? Wasn't there anyone else in the house he talked to? She knew that him and Crispin were chummy before she left, did something happen to him? She had to ask. "Wasn't Crispin here though? Or did he leave too?" She leaned forward, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Resting her chin in between her knees, she listened.
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Post by Souleh on Jul 4, 2007 22:54:50 GMT -5
He hopped up onto the bed, sitting in his usual pretzel style, hands resting quite limply in his lap. Watching her quietly with his head tilted to the side, Adrian listened ever so intently to her answer, attempting to fill in the large gaps in his head. She didn't seem alright, to him, enough so that he had bypassed a good bxtchfest, but he was, he reminded himself, socially retarded and therefore not the best judge of such things. And as far as the whole running home to pick up a few things...well, that he /knew/ wasn't the whole story, but he wasn't so socially retarded as to mention it. If anyone understood the concept of keeping painful moments quiet, Adrian did.
"It's fine, I suppose," he sighed, sounding rather reluctant to forgive but not quite sure what else he was supposed to do. "Just /don't/ do it again." He flicked his head, sending a bit of hair out of his face, to better stare pointedly at her. Best to get the point across.
Trailing his hands along his pant leg, he looked down at her inquiry considering Crispin, nibbling his lip. "Well. I'm...not really sure where he is. Disappeared into thin air." A magician's rabbit joke was just begging to be made, but Adrian had more class than that, and was a little bit busy being nervous and awkward and worried.
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Post by crazypunka on Jul 5, 2007 0:19:24 GMT -5
Dahlia frowned as she was reprimanded by someone much smaller than she, but with a much more demanding presence than she had as well. "Sorry..." Her voice trailed off, as did her eyes, averting them from having to meet Adrian's dark, accusing stare.
She played with the edge of the sheets, her fingers tracing the rough cotton weave, feeling the texture on her sensitive finger tips. Well... he didn't seem too concerned about Crispin's disappearance. Maybe he'd have acted the same way about Dahlia if someone had asked him while she was gone. Maybe he'd only missed her for selfish reasons, and not because he really liked her and was worried for her. Maybe maybe maybe. Geez she sure was a bucket of rainbows and giggles right now....
She sighed lightly, looking up from the fabric under her fingers. "I promise I won't leave again without letting you know. Things are just kind of... weird for me right now. I'm not really as aware of stuff as I should be. I'm just a little... spacey." She was going to use the word "numb" because that more accurately described how she was feeling, but spacey would do, and it sounded much less depressed, much less worthy of any sort of worry from anyone.
"So do people do that a lot around here? Just disappear?" She looked up at Adrian, hoping that her question wouldn't make him feel any worse.
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Post by Souleh on Aug 4, 2007 20:13:28 GMT -5
"I told you," he started, his voice sounding slightly impatient. Then he paused, taking a deep breath, quite aware that such a tone would not do much good for Dahlia's morose mood. He knew how it felt to want to apologize over and over, he could hardly blame her for doing so twice. It would be terribly hypocritical of him and Adrian was trying to cut down on his instances of hypocrisy. He managed to continue in a much more reassuring, gentler tone. "It's fine. You came back eventually, /and/ you apologized. It's more than most people do." Not that most people mattered to him, except as faces he had become comfortable with seeing around, but it seemed like the kind of thing that would make everything seem okay.
Yawning discreetly, a hand hiding the small opening of his mouth, he watched her fingers quietly, following their paths with his eyes ever so carefully. He smiled slightly, glancing up at her for a moment before returning to her hands. "I know how that feels, being spacey. Poor Dahlia. Such an odd feeling sort of mood to be in." He clucked softly, involuntarily to himself, much like a mother of some sorts, pitying one of her wee babes, shaking his head. No, spacey was not fun. Poor girl, she needed something to wake up her brain.
But of course, he had to set that aside, as her mind seemed on Earth enough to actually pull off curiosity. Gasp! His smile faltered, fell, shifted into a thoughtful frown. "Yes. People come and go...all the time. Sometimes they show up for a little bit, and then disappear for good - or, at least, they haven't come back yet. Some of them disappear and show up a while later like you did." He sighed softly, pulling at a strand of his hair. "You get used to it. I...don't really notice so much - or care, really - anymore, but I think that has more to do with...not knowing that many people, really. I noticed when you disappeared, obviously, or when Crispin did. You just have to stop worrying about the people you never even spoke to, just saw every once in a while walking down the hall. Otherwise I think you could actually drive yourself crazy from trying to keep track of them all." He grinned wickedly, postured himself with a playful amount of flair. "And while I'm sure your goal in life is to achieve my level of aristocratic madness, I assure you, it isn't /quite/ as glamorous as it seems and you are much better off avoiding the crazy."
OoC: Sorry for the wait, I've been a lazy bum all summer. D:
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Post by crazypunka on Nov 7, 2007 18:16:29 GMT -5
Dahlia lifted her head to bring her eyes to Adrian's face. She let her gaze linger for a while, taking in his sharp features, making sure to keep track of his eyes and not be caught staring at him. But she hadn't been as careful as she'd thought she was being, and Adrian's eyes eventually caught hers. She smiled a lopsided smile, halfhearted really, and lacking energy, but a smile nonetheless.
"You're silly." It was said affectionately, and it was her genuine opinion. He wasn't silly in the more mainstream idea of 'silly'. Not silly like a clown was silly. But he was silly in a different way. In a disturbed, somewhat morbid way. And at this moment in time, when Dahlia was feeling more alone than ever, she found it endearing.
Had it been anyone else, any other strange quirk of theirs, she would have felt the same way. But Adrian had separated himself from the others, from Zepher, from Eric, from Guadalupe, he had made himself that person by being the first to come and say hello after her disappearance. Perhaps Lupe was at work. Perhaps Zepher was at work. Perhaps Eric didn't know she was back. But whatever the reason, fate, choices, whatever, it was Adrian that was there in that moment, and it was Adrian that Dahlia chose to feel close to, to cling to, so as to not be alone anymore.
She had the compulsion to lean against him, maybe even rest her head on his shoulder, but she'd been away for too long, and Adrian didn't seem pleased with her behavior. So instead, she stayed where she was, smiling fondly at her fingertips, which were still fingering the edge of the sheet.
((If you want to stop posting in this thread, that's cool. I realize I've been absent for quite some time. o.0))
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Post by Souleh on Nov 18, 2007 17:34:13 GMT -5
Silly. Of all the things she could have said, he had not expected her to call him silly. He blinked, relaxing from his position of affectatious flair, his head tilting to one side ever so slightly. Silly. Adrian couldn't help but call to mind 'wacky' cartoons, clowns, and small children, the thought of being lumped into the same category as any of them bringing a frown to his lips. Surely she did not mean - silly, defined as foolish? He rolled the word carefully through his mind, paying close attention to the tone she had delivered it in, her current demeanor. No, it couldn't be an insult, she sounded far too fond of him to attack him. She was /smiling/, for gods' sakes.
Then what on earth was she calling him silly for? Fairly sure by now that it was all some horrible miscommunication that he didn't understand, he took it upon himself to correct her, carefully, in the same playful manner had had assumed before, hoping to kill this concept of 'silly' and cheer her up all at once. "You must be mistaken, my dear Dahlia, I am not silly." He shook his head once or twice, clucking softly. "Charmingly and cleverly witty, yes. But ridiculous? I think your spaciness is having a terrible effect on your word choice. Why, next you'll be saying that the sunny weather is lovely!" It did not occur to him, of course, that his example was hard to understand if one was the average person and not an easily sunburnt lover of darkness like himself. His manner, of course, the way he pronounced 'sunny weather' with an undertone of utter disgust, doubtless made it clear what he meant, if Dahlia was paying attention to anything other than the words themselves.
ooc: Bah. Icky. Also, dear gods I need more hours in the day plz. (Hence the lateness, sorry 'bout that.)
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