Editing Anger and Helplessness
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
− | |||
− | When Nika slips in the door | + | To be sure, the Harbinger contingent aren't the only ones who spend time with Brian in that dark, quiet hospital room. When Nika arrives, she finds Christian there. He's set up a lamp and his easel. The sketches on the canvas are still rough, but it won't be hard to figure out what it is he intends to paint. The former "pilot" of the Harbinger as he was just before he was tackled by Rick, the thermite grenade in hand. |
+ | |||
+ | When Nika slips in the door, she doesn't expect to find Brian alone. He can't be left alone... constant monitoring is required to make sure he's still breathing. As always when she steps into this room, it's like being hit in the gut; she can't breathe for just a few seconds. And then she says quietly, "I can take a turn." She 'takes a turn' every single time the opportunity presents itself, though getting the ship off the ground has to take first priority. She's been catching what little sleep she's allowing herself in the chair next to this bed. | ||
"I'll be at this for a little while. I don't mind company, though." Christian says without looking up. His hand works, sketching out details of the man's face on the canvas. Making it easier to add paint later. Christian, when it comes to art, is more a realist than anything else. | "I'll be at this for a little while. I don't mind company, though." Christian says without looking up. His hand works, sketching out details of the man's face on the canvas. Making it easier to add paint later. Christian, when it comes to art, is more a realist than anything else. | ||
− | Nika hesitates, eyeing the canvas with distaste. "Do I even want to know why the hell you're painting that hun dan?" She | + | Nika hesitates, eyeing the canvas with distaste. "Do I even want to know why the hell you're painting that hun dan?" She moves to the far side of the bed, reaching out to gently brush dark hair of Brian's forehead while pointedly not looking in Christian's direction. Part of her wants to make Christian leave, but ... she doesn't really have the right. |
"I'm trying to remember." Christian says as he works on the eyes. "The sequence of events. Everyone was focused on Brian. He was focused on getting away. I decided to focus on making sure we could. While he was distracted, I made my way into the shuttle. He went in after. I opened the locker. While I was doing that, he pulled the grenade. I pulled the flashbang. Was he going to threaten to blow the shuttle up? Was he planning on throwing the grenade out to make sure no one could else could come in? Would the grenade have gone off if I hadn't set off the flashbang?" | "I'm trying to remember." Christian says as he works on the eyes. "The sequence of events. Everyone was focused on Brian. He was focused on getting away. I decided to focus on making sure we could. While he was distracted, I made my way into the shuttle. He went in after. I opened the locker. While I was doing that, he pulled the grenade. I pulled the flashbang. Was he going to threaten to blow the shuttle up? Was he planning on throwing the grenade out to make sure no one could else could come in? Would the grenade have gone off if I hadn't set off the flashbang?" | ||
− | Her jaw clenches tight and Nika murmurs softly, "There was a time when it wouldn't have come down like that." She feels a weight of responsibility that may or may not be hers to shoulder, but it's there. "Harry's | + | Her jaw clenches tight and Nika murmurs softly, "There was a time when it wouldn't have come down like that." She feels a weight of responsibility that may or may not be hers to shoulder, but it's there. "Harry's the fastest draw I've ever met in my life. And she's a better shot than me, too, though not by much. If she'd been armed... If Brian's reflexes weren't dulled... I've seen him grabbed like that before. His standard action is to turn all Noodle Man on whoever grabbed him..." She smiles faintly. "Just.... limp and loose and there ain't any grabbin' him with one hand. Never seen anybody but a kid who could do the Noodle Man as effectively. That whole situation was shit. And I wasn't sure that he'd duck... my aim was off." |
"The Pax." Christian says, frowning as he leans back and looks over the sketch. "I'm sorry, Nika. I shouldn't have set off the flashbang." | "The Pax." Christian says, frowning as he leans back and looks over the sketch. "I'm sorry, Nika. I shouldn't have set off the flashbang." | ||
Line 26: | Line 27: | ||
"I'm sorry." Christian says. He picks up the canvas, sets it aside and begins folding up his easel. "I'll leave you two alone." There aren't any platitudes. No words of wisdom. He has no answers. There aren't any. | "I'm sorry." Christian says. He picks up the canvas, sets it aside and begins folding up his easel. "I'll leave you two alone." There aren't any platitudes. No words of wisdom. He has no answers. There aren't any. | ||
− | "For what?" Nika asks quietly | + | "For what?" Nika asks quietly. "He can't hear me in there anyway." The words choke her and she pulls her hand away, moving to walk around the bed back toward the door. "Stay. Call me when your shift's up," she says around the knot in her throat. She'll put in a couple more hours working on the ship, perhaps. |
"He can hear you." Christian says, "Somewhere in there." He gently puts his hand on Nika's shoulder. "This is hard. I know. I'm sorry. I can't tell you how to make this easier. I can hold your hand while you sit here, if you need me to. Or I can leave and make sure you see as little of me as possible until you resolve the anger you're feeling." He's a trigger for it. He knows it. | "He can hear you." Christian says, "Somewhere in there." He gently puts his hand on Nika's shoulder. "This is hard. I know. I'm sorry. I can't tell you how to make this easier. I can hold your hand while you sit here, if you need me to. Or I can leave and make sure you see as little of me as possible until you resolve the anger you're feeling." He's a trigger for it. He knows it. |