psl; [the healing process]

[animalqueen]

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ELLE GRAYSON is generally a normal one, with enough variety sprinkled in throughout the week to prevent it from becoming a deadly dull routine. She lives in a flat in London, a charming little one bedroom and two bath, not particularly large, but cozy. It’s a strange fusion of modern and old fashioned, a dichotomy that reflects her own personality quite well.

Every morning, she wakes up and makes a cup of strong coffee. (Black, no sugar.) Her cat, a grey, long-haired, grumpy looking thing, lazes on her bed for longer than she does, only trotting out when he’s ready to be fed. His name is Paladin Leeroy. Sometimes she just calls him Lee.

When coffee and breakfast are a thing of the past, Elle usually hears chirping on her balcony, a structure small but laden with potted plants. She will open the doors, and sometimes, if she’s in a particularly energized mood, will announce, “Your Queen has arrived! Court will now be held,” and the little sparrows will chirp at her, and line up in a row. She’ll feed them birdseed, or bread, if she’s run out. Later, Leeroy will bound out, but she always tells him to leave the birds alone until they’re done eating. He listens. They always fly away before he gets a chance to do any real harm.

Lately, she’s been working part-time at an advertising agency, writing and tweaking copy that slides across her desk. It isn’t the most fulfilling job, but it pays the bills, and that’s what matters. Her real work is her own writing; freelancing for various websites, and poking and prodding at the idea for a book, slowly trying to force life into the narrative. Sometimes inspiration strikes her, and she sits and writes for hours at a time, until her eyes begin to strain, and she has to stop. Other times, she grows tired and can’t seem to string words together at all, and her word document looks a bit like this:

And then stuff happened. Everyone died tragically but it was fine, because it was thematically appropriate to the narrative.

ugh ugh you suck

That always gets deleted at the end, of course.

Crammed in the corner of the living area is an upright piano, white and well-used. Sheet music sits scattered on its stand, and an acoustic guitar rests on the floor next to it. There’s a television, of course, a flat-screen that looks larger than it actually is in her apartment. Connected to it is a Playstation 2, a blu ray player, and little else. On the shelves above, there are books — so many books. Mostly horror and old classics; copies of Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice look particularly worn.

The shelf next to it is stocked with board games. Tabletop and family ones, alike. One in particular is even out of its spot, instead spread out on the little glass coffee table. It looks as if a campaign hasn’t been started yet, though someone’s been flipping through the manual quite recently. Maybe quite frequently.

Her bedroom is small, but the bed is large and roomy. There are pictures of friends and family on the bookshelves in here, and a few on her nightstand. Beyond that, she keeps this part of the flat a little messier than the rest.

GENERALLY, SHE LIVES A RELATIVELY NORMAL LIFE, quiet and cozy. Sometimes living by herself is a bit lonely, and the time difference means that she cannot call her mom and step-dad any time she likes just to hear their voices. But like all things, these emotions pass like any other. Perhaps the only real oddity in her life are the strange surprises she sometimes finds on her balcony. There were a family of raccoons once. A possum. A falcon, who looked lost and confused when she opened the door, turning its head at her, blinking. There were even rats, but they only sniffed the air in her direction, and did little else.

Elle Grayson is just a normal 26 year-old, with a magnetism or two that might be considered abnormal. Perhaps that’s the extent of the oddities in her life. Perhaps this is all she could ever really wish for.

Perhaps she’ll be proven wrong, sooner rather than later.

----------

D I R E C T O R Y;

➤ a reunion
➤ a cat
➤ a novel
➤ an outing
➤ a resolution
➤ a sickness
➤ a home
➤ a boyfriend
➤ a horror

Comments

[coalheart]

[He repeats two lines of the songs rather wryly:]

And you cut my face, I told you so
I'd tear my eyes out for you.

That's quite painful if you ask me.

[animalqueen]

[She gives him a sideways glance.]

I don't think it's meant to be taken that literally. The point is, "I'd do anything for you, even if I hurt myself doing so." Love in a nutshell.

[coalheart]

[... He seems uncomfortable with what she said.

(Because if that's what it means, it explains why James Aubel persevered, why he triumphed, why Corvus fell, why he was a failure, why he would always be missing something because...)

He lets out a muffled non-committal noise.]

That so.

[Nailed it.]

[animalqueen]

[He sounds oddly unconvinced, she thinks to herself. But she doesn't feel the need to argue the point further; lyrics, like poetry, could be interpreted differently depending upon the listener or reader. That was part of what made it beautiful.

And so she merely shrugs, her ponytail falling across her shoulder.]

That's what I think, anyway. Love makes people do crazy things -- or at least, that's what they tell me. So where'd you hear that song? I'll have to look it up when we get back.

[coalheart]

... Somewhere around the States when the others and I migrated around the area.

[Partial truths. Always partial truths. Because she would hate him if she knew the whole truth, it is ugly and Corvus knows it and the fact that he's aware of these things makes him ache, he knows how disgusting it all is (but he's been waiting for so long he feels empty, empty, empty...)]

It was hard to ignore for some reason. It's no church bells after all.

[animalqueen]

[Partial truths. Elle wouldn't know the difference between them and the whole truth -- his hesitation is hard to parse, just like everything about him. She figures if he's uncomfortable with telling her something, maybe Cor would come around in his own time. Maybe.

Silence threatens to fill the empty space again, but Elle fights against it. She blurts out, a bit awkwardly, something that comes to mind.]

Right, church bells. You should listen to Always Something There to Remind Me by Naked Eyes. It's in my iPod. Might be a livelier way of hearing church bells than you're used to; kind of like... wedding bells, in a way.

[Corvus, please cheer up...... she's trying hard to pull you out of that doom and gloom you're so fond of.]

[coalheart]

[He obeys and scrolls down searching for the title and taps on it. He listens to it for a minute before furrowing his brow.]

Odd.

[animalqueen]

Ha... "odd". Meaning you don't like it?

[coalheart]

I can tolerate it.

[Thank god he's conversing even with his one word replies.]

[animalqueen]

[She rolls her eyes at that response.]

If you don't like that, then you're not much of an 80's pop guy, are you? What a shame.

[She's teasing him, of course.]

Pick whatever you want, then. Pleeb.

[coalheart]

[It takes him a while to find something that actually catches his interest. He keeps tapping, listening for a few seconds, shakes his head, chooses another. It's kind of irritating. There is one song where he does pause, confused at the slow start. And then...

"Ground control to Major Tom..."

Space Oddity.

He listens. Shrugs. He finally leaves the iPod alone to let Bowie's song resonate in the car.]

[animalqueen]

[Ah, that's one of her favorites. It's one that she would usually sing along with... but not with someone else in the car.

So all she can do is give a mild expression of approval as it plays, holding back her usual impulse.]

...Good choice.

[coalheart]

[He drums his fingers slowly to the steady beats of the song, eyes on the road once more and letting himself rest before their arrival...

* * *

They finally make it to the planetarium. He seems tense somehow. Perhaps it's anticipation? Uncertainty? Corvus is emoting more than usual with his aura even if his facial expressions don't show it after stepping out of the car once it is parked. He gazes at the building, hands in his pockets.

He takes a deep breath.]

... I've wanted to go inside one for a while. Didn't feel right at the time though.

[animalqueen]

[When they reach their destination, Elle steps out of the car, locking it behind her. She has to stretch a little, her limbs feeling stiff from the drive over.

She looks at the buildings, then to Corvus.]

I think we'll have fun. I've always wanted to see what it's like at this one. I hear it's pretty impressive.

[She the first to step forward, waving him along.]

Come on, slowpoke.

[coalheart]

[He follows her of course. When they get nearer to the sizeable crowds of people... The thing is happening again. People giving glances, like at the grocery store. But ah, he's discovered something. As long as he hovers close to Elle, it seems that the looks lessen.

GOOD. He'll be doing that for the time being.]

[animalqueen]

[Into the crowd they go, and Elle notices something... strange. There are a lot of stares, but they aren't necessarily at her; she follows their gazes, and they all seem to lead to... Corvus.

Ah. This must be what had happened when he went for groceries while she was sick.

But the gazes seem to subside when Corvus stands near her. It makes sense, of course, but she thinks he's done it by accident, and she feels a bit... embarrassed to be standing so close.

So she steps away, just in case, subtly making her way in line.]

[coalheart]

[And he steps closer when she tries to distance herself. He says to her point blank:]

I don't want to be propositioned.

[animalqueen]

[She's caught between a rock and a hard place. She kind of feels sorry for him (but it's also kind of amusing), but she feels indescribably self-conscious when he stands that close to her. She mutters under her breath.]

But you're giving people the wrong idea...

[coalheart]

They're staying away.

[Corvus please, you're not the only one feeling uncomfortable here.]

How many steps do we need where it's not uncomfortable, but people won't offer me their numbers?

[animalqueen]

God, I don't know...

[You're going to make her blush; in fact, her cheeks are already turning a faint tinge of pink.

She can't believe he's asking for the exact number of steps. She can't believe she's even having this conversation.]

Just... never mind. You can stand there if you want.

[coalheart]

Alright.

[There will be no number retrieval today! He stays close to Elle (noting that she's rather warm, is she sick again) and keeps to himself mostly as they head head, hands in his pockets.]



Have you been propositioned before?

[WHY ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT THIS]

[animalqueen]

[CHRIST.......

Corvus, only you could ask something so straightforwardly...

She doesn't even know why she's answering, to be honest. Maybe it'll satiate his curiosity and he'll stop asking. Her cheeks are still red.]

I mean... yes. But that's not all that unusual to happen occasionally.

[coalheart]

This is why there are mating seasons for other lifeforms and that humans ought to have them.

[... Is what he mutters under his breath thank god because as a human, he sounds like a goddamn sociopath. But as a being that's been a crow most of his life on Earth, it sounds perfectly reasonable.]

[animalqueen]

[Oh my god Corvus... She practically hisses out her next words under her breath to him.]

Humans aren't birds, Cor. We don't have mating seasons, we just fu.... mate whenever we want. And that's how it works. Okay?

[HOW DID THIS CONVERSATION COME TO BE, PLEASE HURRY UP TICKET LINE......]

[coalheart]

That causes more problems than it often solves doesn't it?

[Is he giving her sass now? It's quite possible.]