video: bed rest | this one goes out...

[flensing]

[The music is soft, a soft voice with a light piano. The video shows a woman in a hospital bed -- a woman? or a very delicate boy? the head has been shaved, but perhaps the facial feature are that of a woman, haggard as they are -- is fast asleep as the lullaby plays. There is a faint pinch in her expression, troubled even in her sleep, but perhaps that is not so surprising when one looks at the state of her. She has only been freed from her captors a week, and she is still bruised, still gaunt.

But there is time to heal now.]



[[ooc; Because of Anna's injuries, she won't be able to do much at all this month. So, just to get her around a bit, here we go. Visiting her at the hospital and showering her with flowers and stuffed things would be really awesome. She won't be able to talk much, but she would be happy to listen to someone else talk, if you've got a story-teller type.]]

Comments

[boutant]

[ It's not the ideal day to go visit, but the music has changed to something quieter, and so Ariadne creeps on in. She's bringing a teddy bear; a large, friendly, cuddly thing. She's not sure if Anna will be able to hold onto it or not right now, but she'll be able to later, right?

Still, she doesn't want to wake her, so she's trying to be quiet and set it down so she can creep on out again. ]

[flensing]

[It isn't Ariadne's fault that Anna wakes up. She was not very deeply asleep to begin with. It had been easy, in her cell to fall in and out of consciousness, she was starving, thirsty, hurting. They have no tried to put her on solid foods yet here, but her body is being fed, she has some energy, at last.

Her eyelashes stir as the woman approaches the bedside, turning her head to watch silently.]

[boutant]

[ She can feel the eyes on her, and she turns, smiling a bit sheepishly. ]

Hey. I hope I didn't wake you. [ Pause. ] This is for you.

[ The bear, obviously. Oh, this is suddenly awkward and she's not entirely sure why. ]

[flensing]

[Anna blinks slowly, her cheek rubbing against the pillow as she looks at the bear. She makes a very faint sound, a dismissal to the idea that she had been woken.

She is not quite so engaged as to to lift her hands, however, and her big brown eyes flick back up to Ariadne's face, staring at her without reservation.]

[boutant]

[ There's a moment of hesitation, but then Ariadne steps forward, setting the bear down next to Anna. She's careful not to block her face with the stuffed teddy, instead putting it near her hands so that Anna can touch it, if she'd like. ]

I guess you probably don't remember me. [ That's okay. Ariadne hadn't been sure what there was to remember until Anna showed up again. ] I'm Ariadne.

Video;

[worldofourown]

[He isn't sure what attracts him to the post. Perhaps it's the lilting French lullaby, so paradoxically sweet amid all the clashing chords that've assaulted his ears all day. Perhaps it's the clear exhaustion on the woman's face - a look that piques the human and predator in him alike.]

[Whatever the case, he peers into the screen for a better look.]

Hello...?

[flensing]

[Ariadne. That is not such a common name, but very pretty. Anna's eyes fall closed for a moment, breathing slowly and evenly before she lifts a hand to gently brush the bear's felt nose with the tip of her index finger.

She seems to be quite absorbed in it, honestly, although her eyes do drag over her ugly wrists, eaten up by the heavy manacles that had chained her to the wall for so long.]

Hm.

[It's a little louder this time, as close to a hello as she's going to get right now, and she brings the bear in against her side, a little hesitant and abashed, but she likes the feel of it there.]

Video;

[flensing]

[She stirs at his voice, she does not seem too groggy when she looks up, so she must not have been deeply asleep. The technology that the device runs on is... foreign to her. Nothing that small in the 80s, and she seems a little confused and certainly nervous.

She has heard voices in her head before, but rarely ones she did not recognize from somewhere.

Her large eyes show that she is distressed about it, looking enormous in her gaunt face. Perhaps, if he moves around a bit, she will notice the video screen...]

Video;

[worldofourown]

[The fear in the girl's eyes is fascinating. He's seen it countless times before. In the eyes of his dying victims, and in his own face, during all the bloody experiments Amshel conducted on him. Despite himself, he waveses a little. His voice is quiet.]

A newcomer to the City, are we?

[boutant]

[ There's a slight smile as Anna touches the bear, then a wider one when she draws it close to her. For her part, Ariadne continues to stand nearby, glancing around the room. ]

I don't know how much they might have told you about the City here, or what happened, but you arrived in my room.

[ She would assume that Wilson told her some things; he comes off as that sort of person. ]

You'd arrived before, on... well, people call them visitor's days. That's how I knew your name.

Video;

[flensing]

[She needs gentle, she appreciates that his voice quiets. She pushes herself up in the bed a little, investigating after the voice. One of her hands lifts to pick up the device, her wrists are bird-thin and damaged from far too long in manacles.

She looks down into the camera. She doesn't say anything, and she doesn't precisely nod, but she is waiting for him to carry on along that line.]

[flensing]

[She knows it's a little silly to be cradling a stuffed bear, but holding onto something is nice. To have it offered to her. Everything has been so barren and empty.

Between the doctors and nurses she has heard a few things. It is all a little bit hard for her to take in, she falls asleep and forgets pieces of it, wakes up wondering if this is a dream again, but things are becoming more stable with each passing day.

She draws her knees up, not quite sitting up, but giving more of an impression of alertness.]

[intheblanks]

[From time to time, as she sleeps, another piece of music filters through almost as a counterpoint to hers.

there is no pain, you are receding
a distant ship's smoke on the horizon,
you're only coming through in waves,
your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.

Each time it lasts long enough to check charts, take notations, and fades out.]

Video;

[worldofourown]

[Her expression, her emaciated appearance, bewilders him. She doesn't look merely ill. She looks like an animal that has spent years in captivity. Skittish and wasted. Breakable. He imagines if he were to shout Boo!, she's shatter to pieces.]

[Smirking, he tilts his head.]

I take it they didn't feed you much, wherever you're from. There isn't enough life in you for a midnight snack.

[Despite the flip remark, his voice remains soft. Indeed, his expression is more teasing than anything. What, he wonders, happened to this human?]

[boutant]

[ Ariadne's the one who gave it to her. It's not as though she's going to judge Anna for using her gift for its intended purpose. ]

You told me that I should tell you something, if you came back and couldn't remember. J'ai peur aussi. I said it when you arrived, too.

[ After a moment, she takes a seat on the nearby chair, not wanting to hover over the other woman. ]

... They're taking good care of you, here?

[flensing]

[Oh. Anna's eyes seem to... grow deeper in some way, already large and dark, but those words touch something inside of her. She licks her lips, and she tries in a low, hoarse voice,]

J'étais ici?

Video;

[flensing]

{She would startle, it's true, but perhaps she might not break. She is stronger than she seems.

At his words, she gives him a blank look, as if she isn't even sure what he's saying. She has been demeaned so thoroughly, a little jibe like this can hardly break the barrier of numbness.

After a moment, however, she lowers her eyes, lips pursing in something distinctly unimpressed.]

[boutant]

[ Oh-- There's relief at hearing Anna speak, obvious from her eyes to the tone of her voice. ]

Not for long. Just a weekend. That happens, sometimes.

Video;

[worldofourown]

[As the girl purses her lips, Karl chuckles. Well, well. A little attitude, even in such a brittle little thing. Quite astonishing.]

What's the matter, mademoiselle? Can't you speak? Or are you a mime recovered from a war-zone?

[flensing]

[She dozes her way through most of the movements around her, but there has been so much sleep... She finally has a little strength in her to be awake, to lift her head from time to time and take a look around herself. Maybe it's just coincidence when she peers down the bed at him curiously, maybe it's the music. She knows that song, it is really very bizarrely soothing to hear it...]

[flensing]

Que?

[Just a little breath. Anna has her own theory already brewing, it doesn't actually matter what Ariadne says.]

Video;

[flensing]

[She is a marvelous girl. A saint. A martyr. When she speaks, it is almost inaudible, voice hoarse.]

Grossier.

[boutant]

We don't know. Some people think it's an alternate universe or a pocket dimension. My roommate likes to talk about aliens and another one is convinced it's a dream.

[ It isn't. Yusuf just doesn't want to listen. ]

Other people say magic.

[flensing]

[Her eyes lower, lips parted. She plays her fingers against the stuffed bear's fur quietly.]

Lucie n'est pas venu avec?

Video;

[worldofourown]

What?

How rude.

[But he's smiling. At least he knows she has a tongue. A French-speaking tongue, even. He switches to the language out of habit, more than anything.]

How did we come to be here, mademoiselle? Were we rescued from an Ogre's lair?

[She certainly looks like she spent her time in one.]