Topic: Weeping with the Wounded, Part 2

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2007-12-16 21:19 EST
December 8, afternoon
6700 Guernsey Road

Glenn was inside his workshop, putting the finishing touches on a simple wine rack. He was using a high-grit sandpaper and woodblock to sand the rack as smooth as possible, singing all the while as his arms moved back and forth rhythmically. The song was mostly inaudible from outside, and when the upbeat knock sounded at the door, Glenn had switched to humming it. He heard the knock, and instinctively turned towards it. His voice was a bit gruffer than he'd hoped, but hey, one couldn't be too careful, even outside the city. "Who's there?"

Through the door the response was a bit muffled, but still familiar. "Ta amim." After that the door opened a bit slowly, just enough so that Carley could slip inside before she shut it behind her. She wore a light blue sweater (that looked as if Erin could have knitted it), denim shorts over thick white stockings that had a hole on the knee; over that were her usual accessories- cloak, matching dark blue scarf, and her tote bag- all of which she started to shed as she spoke. "I think I'm gonna have to start takin' the carriage when I wanna come out here." Her gaze darted about momentarily, pausing on Glenn long enough so she could offer him a bright smile, then it moved on towards the stove in the other room. She started marching on that way, accessories in tow.

After briefly noting and smiling at Carley's appearance, he spoke, more to himself than Carley. "I think that's just about done." Glenn carefully carried the wine rack to the large front room, near a couple of other projects that were finished (and several that were half-done.). That task completed, he walked back into the room with the table, chairs, and stove, pulled a seat over (that hadn't been covered by the little elf's things) and sat down next to Carley- who was standing close to the stove, her hands extended towards its warmth. He had been working, so he was just wearing the usual black t-shirt and beat-up old carpenter's pants, with two hammers in the loops on each hip. However, Glenn wasn't wearing that all-too-familiar jade arrowhead necklace, a fact that would become evident the moment Carley took a closer look at his face. The ears, however, were still covered by shaggy light brown hair.

Carley turned towards Glenn when he sat next to her, eyes moving over his face. The smile she always seemed to wear brightened a bit before she turned away to look around, taking in the appearance of the barn so far. "You sure got a lot done since the last time I was here. It's startin' to look like a real home here." She turned to face him again, grin forming. "You weren't really workin' when I came in were you? It's too late in the day for that."

He itched his nose (a bit smaller than it was "normally") before responding, a crooked smile on his face. "What time is it? I don't really have a way of keeping track of time out here, honestly. Just the sun and the moon and daylight." He turned to face the front of the barn, looking out the windows there. "I don't think the sun's even set yet. But anyways, how're you doing?" He smiled again, a broader smile this time.

"Too late for work." Carley repeated her earlier words, perhaps to reiterate her point, as she gave him an oh so sagely nod. Stepping away from the stove, she moved a little closer to Glenn. "I'm doin' great! I was at The Stitch a little while makin' sure the workers there were doing their jobs, and decided to drop by for a little bit before going home." Clasping hands behind her back, she leaned a little closer to look him over. "What about you?"

It took Glenn... a long time to answer that question. He tilted his head and looked at Carley, then started tapping his finger against his forehead. Then, he leaned back in his chair. In a quiet, flat, non-emotional voice, he responded, "I'm doing... alright."

Pointed ears almost seemed to droop as Carley's smile faded. "Hm..." The sound she made was quiet and noncommittal. Straightening, she settled a hand on her hip as she looked him over, scrutinizing, connecting blue eyes with green. "And how are ya really doing?"

A close look at his face revealed the truth. Without the necklace on, emotions... seemed clearer, easier to read. The stress that Glenn had been under was evident in the tightness of his cheeks, the way his lips were pursed, and most importantly, in the way his large, dark green eyes were a bit cloudy. A bit glazed over. And the beginnings of bags under his eyes didn't help matters either. "Am I that easy to read?" He chuckled, although it possessed little mirth. He then answered his own question "No, you're right. I'm...I'm really kind of worn out."

Carley's hand fell from her hip, making her look a little less stern and defensive as her features softened. "Yer voice always gives you away. At least to me." Brows knit in concern as she walked even further from the stove and past Glenn, pulling her tote bag off the chair it was on to let it fall haphazardly to the floor. "Are you overworking yourself again?" Chair was then dragged over next to his, where she took a seat. Glancing aside, she held a rather curious expression. "Or is it somethin' else?"

((edited and adapted from live RP))

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2007-12-17 21:01 EST
Leaning back in his chair, Glenn gazed up at the ceiling, where the hay lofts had been, years and years ago. "People seem really happy this time of year, don't they? Even though it's really cold and snowy and not really all that nice outside..." He trailed off, before he sat up a little and tried to look Carley in the eyes. "I-I really don't like this time of year. At all. It's... painful. I'm glad we all had the chance to get together yesterday and have fun and decorate and stuff, but there's- there's just this-" And he cut himself off this time, not really sure where he was going with his statement.

As Glenn spoke, Carley watched him, her eyes on his. "It is a weird time of year to be happy. I woulda went with Spring for the celebrations of this solstice instead." She paused momentarily, before reaching out to take one of his hands, still covered by work gloves. Her next question came quietly, and her head tilted to the side as she asked, "Mani na taa?"

Forest greens flicked down to her hand, as his own work-gloved hand took it, then immediately looked back up at her bright blues. "I...guess people just want to find a way not to be sad here. It isn't so cold back h- back in Blackbridge. We don't get snow all that often, and it doesn't get this cold very often." He paused, eyes shut for a second as he lightly squeezed her hand. "Well, now there's all this stuff with the Stitch. On top of this time of year b-b-being when my parents died. And when this-" Glenn's free hand pointed to the side of his head, about where the tips of his ears would be if they weren't covered with hair (and weren't missing). "-happened."

Her gaze fell a bit, drifting towards their hands. There was certainly something... sad in them, and in her expression. She squeezed his hand lightly in return, before her gaze lifted back up. "Glenn.. I'm.." Trailing off, she shook her head. "That can't be easy, I'm sorry. So much bad stuff happenin' all at once like that and being reminded and hit with it all again." Frowning, she seemed to be at a loss for words. Lips parted, but no words came, at least not for a few moments. "Is there anything I can do for ya...?" She looked desperate almost, as she studied him.

He let the air whoosh out of his lungs with a big sigh, before he spoke again, slowly, evenly. "Just...listen. And hug me. And-and promise me? Next Friday I-I don't want to be alone."

The words had barely made it from Glenn's mouth before she released his hand, and leaned over to wrap her arms tightly around him. "I promise." She paused, briefly. "I'll be here when the sun rises, and I won't leave ya until yer asleep. You won't be able to get rid of me."

He threw his arms around her and held her, tight as he could, for as long as she would let him. As best he could, he tilted his head up, to whisper in her ear. "Thank you, Carley." And then, Glenn spoke in a voice that, while still a bit too flat for words, still seemed carry a little more emotion than usual. "Diola lle."

Smiling a little, Carley squeezed him in return. "Lle creoso." She sighed inaudibly, then let her cheek rest on his shoulder for a few long moments. After that she leaned back to regard his face. "Amin lasta..." The words were quiet, almost hesitant in nature.

It was a blatant attempt to stall, but also a necessary one. "Where-where did I leave off last time?" His index finger started to tap, slowly, against the side of his head.

Carley looked to be thinking momentarily. "You had taken care of the pirates, and the elves arrived, and then they went to get yer aunt." Leaning back even more, her arms fell from Glenn and hands settled into her lap.

"Yeah. And I was pretty awful looking by that point, so they moved pretty fast when I told them she was a healer. One of the elves got her, one went inside to take care of momma, and one took care me for a little bit, I guess. I pretty much passed out after I told them where she was. I woke up, and I think it was the next day? And my Aunt Kyla was just finishing up stitching my ears back on. And she looked...Gods, I don't know. Not mad, really. She was a little bit sad and a little bit... disappointed? Confused? Momma and poppa never told her what I was, and she hadn't figured it out until this point. I never really knew why they didn't. Her and my cousin Kathryn, who she was also training to be a healer." The discussion of his aunt made him look down at his hands, resting across his legs. "But I was really out of it, so it didn't really register until a lot later when she told me poppa...the pirates had killed him and a lot of the people who were building these barricades closer to the docks." He paused, giving her a chance to catch up and ask questions.

For a long moment, she didn't say anything. Eyes flickered distinctively with anger before it soon faded away, replaced by sadness. "Did ya get along with yer aunt? ...before she found out?" After she had asked, she almost looked regretful at her words.

Glenn locked his dark green (now almost black with pain) irises on her blues, trying to summon strength from them, even as they now reflected much of the same sadness he felt. "Aunt Kyla...was like a second momma to me. I-I loved her. And my cousins were like the brothers and sister my momma and poppa never could have. And it was tough. On all of us. Cuz she and Kathryn had to try to take care of me and momma. And she wouldn't let James come by and help out, once he'd found out all the things that had happened."

If the regret didn't quite show on her face before, it certainly had now. Lowering her head, Carley's gaze averted from Glenn's. "Amin hiraetha..." Still not looking up, she reached out somewhat tentatively to settle her hand on one of Glenn's.

He was trying to be as tactful as possible, as generous as could be with his aunt, even though her actions ended up hurting him, cutting him deeply. "She...had her reasons for disliking elves." He looked aside to the stove for a second, then looked down on Carley's hand as it settled on his. Even with the glove on, he could feel the warmth from it, and it made him smile wanly.

Frowning, she shook her head. "That doesn't excuse it... the fact she turned her back on ya like that. Even if an elf slighted her, you never did." Words were quiet, angry. Shaking her head somewhat forcefully, she closed her eyes. "I shouldn't say that... it's not helpin'."

Glenn shook his head lightly. "No, it's alright." A brief pause, as dark green eyes regarded her. "Where was I?"

Bright blues opened and lifted towards his, frown slowly fading. "You weren't doin' so well... really out of it, needed them to take care of you."

The thought that he was about to express made him shake his head sadly. "I...don't know if she just wasn't trying all that hard to treat me, or if she didn't know what she was doing. Or if she just screwed up. But...a couple of days after I-that happened, I started getting really sick. Fever, sweating all the time even though it wasn't that hot outside, couldn't sleep. And-and I started hearing and seeing things that weren't there. Voices that were telling me I was in trouble, something was going to get me if I didn't leave right away. It was the middle of the night, the third day. Poppa's funeral about four days away. Aunt Kyla and Kathryn were sleeping in the other room with momma, and I wasn't sleeping. And I just-I just walked out of there, and walked down the street, and walked out towards the woods. And kept walking until I got to the edge of the forest. And I-I had my utility knife on me. And this voice-it-it-kept telling me 'you gotta get rid of them, they're gonna know what you are and kill you for it.' And-and-" He choked off the words, looking straight down at the floor, face red with shame and embarrassment. "A couple of elvish sentries found me in the morning, barely awake, not moving. I...I looked up at them, and I-I just kept repeating to them, over and over, the only word I thought would get them to help me. Tua, tua, tua..." Glenn slouched in his chair, rolled his shoulders back, then tilted his head as far down as he could. He was desperately afraid of how she'd react

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2007-12-18 23:24 EST
If there was any readable emotion on her face, it was disbelief. She had certainly heard of illnesses that could cause people to react in peculiar ways they wouldn't normally. But was he really telling her what she thought he was telling her? The knife... the hallucinations and voices... could Glenn have really cut off his own ears? There was no other explanation though, for them to be gone now. Carley opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came. She had... nothing for Glenn. No words. She was trying to wrap her mind around his words and story, trying to understand. It was just so ? there really were no words for it, were there?

The silence was overwhelming. Glenn just stared at the ground, at his shoes, at his knees. Waiting, hoping that Carley would say something. Say that it was okay. And knowing, deep down, that probably wasn't going to happen. How could what he'd done be okay? Suddenly, abruptly, he stood up, and walked swiftly towards the front of the barn. He threw the door open and went outside, ignoring the fact it was cold. And snowing. And that he didn't have any of his winter clothing on, just a t-shirt and pants. He only made it a little ways out before he suddenly felt his legs start to wobble. He leaned back, against the old red wood of the barn's exterior, and slowly slid down until he was seated. He immediately drew his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs, and ducked his head as low as he could.

Glenn had left so quickly it hadn't given her much of a chance to react. Only after he left did she finally speak up. "Wait!" Too late though, and probably not heard from outside. Her eyes welled with tears, a mixture of pain and anger. Why hadn't she said something before?! Carley cursed quietly at herself as she moved to her feet, quickly wiping tears off her cheeks. She was quick to hurry towards the door and out, near frantic as she looked around to see where Glenn had gone. It wasn't too long though, before she spotted him, sitting on the ground and looking so... defeated. It wasn't fair. Everyone she knew had suffered so much pain in their lives, and her own? It was happy. For the most part, it really was. It was hard for her to really understand what it was others felt, even as much as she wanted to. Glenn, he was good. So very good and yet suffered so much pain, had so much grief in his life. And he didn't deserve it. Not any part of it. Her legs shook a little as she moved closer to him. Tears started forming in her eyes again, and she tried to blink them away. She had to be strong now. For him. She just wasn't sure how. That coupled with the fact she hadn't said anything before when he needed her to caused her to feel somewhat... ashamed. A whimper sounded in her throat as she fell to her knees next to him, then she leaned forward suddenly, throwing her arms around him. Tears fell harder then, as she started to cry.

He looked up and turned when the door was thrown open, and barely had enough time to react to her hugging him. And her crying. His eyes, if it was possible, opened up even wider for a second, before he started to cry as well. Slowly, but steadily, he progressed from soft sobs that still shook his frame to full on tears. It was contagious, and he clung to her fiercely, arms around her back, patting her shoulder. Even as he wept, he attempted to soothe her, though the pain she felt was his pain as well. "It's...it's alright. It's going to be alright."

She shivered from the cold, unaware of it for the moment though, even as the snow soaked through her stockings. Shaking her head ardently, she buried her face in Glenn's shoulder. "It's not right...that yer life's like that." Words came quietly, nearly muffled by his shirt. "That you've had to go through these things. There's so many people that are happy and don't deserve it, and even more people that are unhappy when they deserve more."

He looked to the sky, then down to the ground, before looking back at Carley. "Sometimes...I wonder if the gods are punishing me. For lying to so many people for so long. Or for not believing in them enough. I-I've been doing a lot more praying lately. Going out to the glen when I wake up in the morning. And-and asking Sol and Gaia for things. But-but I don't know if they're listening or not. Or if they're just not paying attention."

There was something...insistent about her next words. "You haven't done anything to deserve punishment, Glenn." She pulled away from him to face him, cheeks red from crying and the chill in the air, her hands still on his shoulders. This was another conversation she didn't know how to handle, not really being one who believed in any sort of deity. "Yer a really good person... ya know that dontcha?"

Glenn started to shiver a bit, from not having his cloak on, and from the chill in the air. Teeth chattered a bit, as he stuck his hands below his armpits, trying desperately to keep warm in the cold winter air. "I-I-I guess so. I-I try to be good. I try to do what's right. I tried to do what would get me through each day, give me the best chance to happy. And it..." He waved his hand in the air, limply. Almost like he was waving a white flag. "It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to."

Carley studied him momentarily, gaze lowering somewhat. Things she thought to say or do were held back, though seeing his reaction to the cold made her suddenly aware of it. She moved to stand, slowly, and offered a hand out for him to take. "It's real cold out here. We should probably go back inside before we make ourselves sick." She shuffled weight from one foot to the other, as a means to keep moving in the cold.

((edited and adapted from live RP))

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2007-12-18 23:33 EST
"Yeah, you're right." Even with gloves on, Glenn's hands were cold. He pulled himself up, carefully, well aware of what had happened the last time he'd tugged too hard on the little elf's hand. He walked over to the door, opened it, and made a beeline for the stove. He sat on the floor, though, feet folded beneath his knees, desperately rubbing his hands by the stove.

Carley followed close behind Glenn, inside and to that stove. She paused though, almost hesitant in the way she moved. Blues shifted between the chairs and floor, before she took a seat on the floor as well, next to Glenn. She sat cross legged, frowning a little at the sad state of her stockings as she rubbed her arms, gaze on the stove.

He rocked a little in place, trying to think of what to say next. Where should he go next? He didn't know, and when Glenn wasn't sure what to say, he didn't say anything. Instead, he unfolded his legs and laid back on the hard, packed-dirt floor. He realized this would probably make a further mess of his clothes, but he didn't care. He folded his hands behind his head and started to stare at the ceiling, at the abandoned hay lofts, blinking now and then.

She glanced aside when Glenn laid back, before looking back to the stove. She sighed quietly as she shifted in place, drawing her legs up to wrap her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. After a few moments of overwhelming silence, she finally spoke up. "I don't think any less of you.

He had a sneaking feeling what she was talking about, but the vagueness of her statement drew him in. Still, his words were quiet, careful, and slowly spoken. "Think any less of me for what?"

How to word it? "For.. what happened." She didn't want to spell it out. Not really. Carley turned her head to look back at Glenn. "You were worried I would, weren't ya? ...but I don't... I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wasn't.. sure what to say." Bright blues wandered away from him and back to the stove.

He sighed, the force of his breath causing his chest to rise and fall visibly. "Yeah...a lot of the elves in Laur'Lotina...didn't believe me when I told them what happened. Didn't believe I was really sick. I was afraid you were like them. But I was wrong. You and Lydia, you don't treat me like I'm screwed up just because I didn't look elven at first, or couldn't speak the language, or didn't know all that much about elves." He sat up, so that he could look in her eyes. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me. I don't really know what I expected you to say. You're-" And his voice got a little quieter, a little more awe-struck. "You're the first person I've told about this that I've really cared about. And-and it means a lot that you care about what happened to me so much.?

She seemed to relax visibly at his words. Blue rested on green, unmoving. Legs were lowered as she turned to face him better. "Of course I do Glenny." It was all too rare Carley got to see his face ? his real face. So she reached out, seeking to brush fingertips over a cheek and down his jawline. "I really care about you... I just want-" She paused abruptly, searching for the words. "-I want good things for ya. I want you to be happy. And when yer not I wanna take the pain away so you can be, even if I don't know how.?

Glenn's eyes shut, and his head shifted a little closer to those fingertips. A small smile formed on his face. "All you have to do, Carley, is be there for me, and listen to me. All you have to do is be you. Be my strength, and I'll be yours, if you ever need it. That will make me happy.?

She smiled to that, and gave a nod. "I can do that." Smile broadened a little before she leaned forward, brushing her lips across his rather softly. Kiss was ended with some hesitancy before she pulled her hand away. With a sigh she started moving to her feet. "I wish I could stay longer, but I should get home now, I didn't really wanna end up walkin' the streets in the dark and it won't be much longer before the sun goes down." She moved to collect her bag, scarf, and cloak, putting them all back on as she regarded Glenn with some curiosity. "Do ya think you'll be okay?"

He smiled faintly, as he stood up to follow her to the door. "I think I'll be alright...just, stop by sometime on Friday. Please." Forest green irises seemed to plead with her, and there was a hint of desperation in his voice as well.

Carley walked to the door, stopping in front of it to peer over her shoulder towards Glenn. Her eyes met his and she gave him her most reassuring smile. "Amin vesta." Turning back around to open the door, she stepped out. "Quel esta Glenn."

((edited and adapted from live RP))