» 6; audio

[thenormalsquint]

Just because the lights are on doesn't mean anybody's actually home, or in this case, the shop's actually open. Sorry to break your little precious hearts, but there'll be no Visitors' Day specials today at Passione. Yes, I understand other shops are doing it, but not this one, mainly because we're closed at this hour of the night.

[And currently there are a lack of employees and such other things a business requires.]

Feel free to stop by and tell this lone worker hello if you care to, maybe bring me a coffee and a donut, maybe a late night dinner too. Just saying. It'll be your good deed for the day.


[ooc: Action/Audio welcome since she's at the shop. Everything is fair game except anything past S4 of Bones. Anything else she can easily forgot by *~*magic*~*.]

Comments

[killerstyle]

That's what I'm asking you. I know you're not holed up in here just to wait around for me to show up and take you out on the town.

[thenormalsquint]

Finnick... [Don't make her state the obvious.] You're cold.

[killerstyle]

[He glances down, giving himself a once-over.]

Actually, I'm pretty comfortable. It's nice weather outside. Summer.

[thenormalsquint]

[Pulling back, Angela takes a few steps back and crosses her arms in front of her. She's trying not to cry. She's lost Cinna already, albeit by him just returning home, but here's another friend of her, long gone only to come back dead from God knows what and he's dancing around the question.

It's Finnick. It's what he does. Why is she so surprised?]

So we're just going to pretend that nothing is wrong here?

[killerstyle]

[It isn't until he sees the look on her face that it really clicks, and then gradually his smile turns from amused to gentle, a certain warmth seeping into his features that isn't reflected in the chill of his limbs.]

Oh. You meant that kind of cold.

[He reaches up with one hand and cups her face, running his thumb over her cheek. It won't surprise him one bit if she knocks his hand away, but hey, it's Finnick, personal space has never been something he pays much heed.]

We can still pretend that nothing is wrong, if you want. Mostly because nothing is wrong.

[thenormalsquint]

I don't want to. Why won't you tell me what happened, Finnick?

[Tell her how you died. Tell her you at least died happy. Died doing what you loved.]

[killerstyle]

[Not a chance. She always did hate it when he lied to her.]

Because "hey, I'm back, and I have a surprise for you: I'm dead" makes for a really terrible conversation opener?

[He shakes his head a little.]

Nothing's wrong, bonita. I mean it. I'm really okay. Better than I've been in a long time.

[thenormalsquint]

You're dead. Usually that is a little less than better than anybody's been in a long time.

[This is supposed to be a happy occasion, but here Angela's trying to hold her tears back because she cries at everything and damn everything in this world and others.]

[killerstyle]

Since when have I ever been what's usual?

[Angela, don't make him kiss you to fix those tears.]

Would you rather hear that I got married?

[thenormalsquint]

[Married and then died, which doesn't make this any better.]

How about we start with what I asked first that then we go onto the good news. Bad news first usually makes the good news better.

[killerstyle]

[He shrugs a little.]

Things got kind of intense and I lost my head.

[OH, FINNICK, YOU AND YOUR MORBID SENSE OF HUMOR.]

But I made a difference. Nothing wrong with that.

[thenormalsquint]

[Finnick, you are a terrible person and you should be in Hell right now.]

How?

[killerstyle]

You never did get the hang of "I don't tell you things because I'm trying to protect you from them", huh. I guess it's nice to see that some things never change.

[He reaches out to take her shoulders, giving her a faint smile.]

Look. You don't want me to answer that question. But I should warn you that if you insist, this time around I don't have any reason not to tell you. It's up to you.

[thenormalsquint]

I wouldn't ask it if I didn't want you to answer it, Finnick. Let me decide if I need protecting. Please.

[She knows it's bad, but he's her friend. She needs to know what her friends go through.]

[killerstyle]

I was trapped in a sewer and a mutt bit my head off. A big kind of lizard-thing that smelled like roses.

[He says it effortlessly, but he's watching her face closely behind his unflinching expression, ready to steady her in the moment when that sinks in.]

Lucky for me I don't keep anything important up there, or I might've missed it, huh?

[thenormalsquint]

[He doesn't flinch but she does and hard. Her stomach lurches forward and it's all Angela can do to turn her head to the side so she doesn't vomit from her vivid imagination.]

Shit.

[killerstyle]

I'd say "I hate to say I told you so", but I know you don't like it when I lie to you.

[He pulls her back in for a hug, holding her against his chest. He's solid, despite being cold. He's here. It's okay.

Don't puke on his shoes, they're designer.]

Angela. Come on, it's okay. Look, I'm here. I'm fine. See? It's really okay.

[thenormalsquint]

[Angela would rather be nauseated than lied to, right now. There's some respect for Finnick for that right there, even if her tears are staining his shirt.]

Who is she?

[The woman who has to pick up the pieces?]

[killerstyle]

[He'll hold on as long as she needs to. And hey, if his shirt gets wrecked from the water, well. It's not like damp clothes have ever bothered him before.]

The same girl I never wanted to tell you about. Her name is Annie.

[Is. Not was. She's still alive. And really, that's all he ever wanted.]

[thenormalsquint]

Tell me about her.

[Turn this bad news into good news as she pulls away to wipe her eyes. She'll never meet this Annie, never see why Finnick was so head over heels for her, but his words will say enough for Angela. That's good enough.]

[killerstyle]

[It's funny, you know, because as much as he adores her, and as much as that adoration shows in the way his face lights up when he thinks of her, it's still hard to talk about Annie. All those years of pretending, of barely daring to say her name for fear it might draw attention to her, make for years of habit that's still hard to unlearn.]

What do you want to know?

[thenormalsquint]

Everything. What she looks like, sounds like, her favorites, what made you decide she was the one...

[Angela shoots off all these tidbits for two reasons: she's nosy and she actually does want to know and it means she can sidestep Finnick asking her why she's here in the shop late at night.]

[killerstyle]

She's beautiful. Dark hair, eyes greener than mine, with a smile that could light up a room.

[There are other things that describe her, too--more defining things, like "she was a Victor like me", and "she won because she could swim" and "she's the one they call the poor mad girl", but while those are all true, they're not the things that matter anymore. A lot of things stopped mattering, once he was dead.]

I think she knew I was the one long before I figured it out myself. She waited a long time for me.

[thenormalsquint]

[And now, with how unfair life is, she barely got any time with him.

Angela returns to sitting by the box, this time staring at her hands, thinking of her next move in this careful conversation.]

How long--When did you--[Think, Angela. Don't ask anything that brings up how little time they probably got to spend together.]Congratulations. I didn't think you had it in you.

[When all else fails, go with friendly sarcasm.]