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.

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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

[animalqueen]

[She frowns, feeling his sadness practical radiate off of him. She wishes she could do more, she wishes that she could just take away whatever it is he's feeling and replace it with happiness-

But she nods. They'll finish the show, and maybe they can talk more freely then.

So for now, she decides to be bold enough to tentatively reach over and give his hand a little squeeze. It's an innocent gesture, just to be reassuring to him.]

Okay. But if you change your mind, just let me know.

[coalheart]

[There's a startled jolt in his hand when she reaches over with her own to give his hand a squeeze. He doesn't make any other reaction, they're in public, although he does glance at Elle, brow furrowed and troubled in its expression.

But he doesn't reject her hand. Corvus looks away and then up at the ceiling.

He wasn't alone right now even if he's so far away.]

[animalqueen]

[And so they continue to watch the rest of the show, wordlessly. It ends with a question: Just how expansive is our universe, just what lies beyond our reach? She glances over at Corvus only briefly, wondering the same herself.]

~*~*~*~*~

[When the show is over and they're making their way out of the building, Elle will not complain if he decides to stick close to her again for the sake of keeping attention at bay. She looks down at her feet as she walks, deciding what to say.]

Um... So did doing this help you remember anything? [She's not sure how to broach the subject without being direct, and so she does.]

[coalheart]

[And stick close to her he does, both hands in his pockets.]

... Not very much, if at all if I had to admit. I just remember being among the stars. Millions, countless ones.

[animalqueen]

[She looks at him, frowning with a little concern.]

You don't remember anything at all about where you came from? What it was like?

[coalheart]

[He shoves his hands deeper into his pockets.]

It was... Gone. Destroyed.

[His voice sounds strained.]

I'm not sure if I even remember what took it or how I even escaped.

[animalqueen]

[She's at a loss for words. How does one even console someone who's lost their entire home planet? Nothing would feel substantial enough, everything would ring hollow.]

I'm... sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you? I know I'm just human and can't really comprehend what it must be like, but if I can help you remember in some way...

[She trails off.]

[coalheart]

[He looks up and stares at her for a second. Then a strange thing happens.

He chuckles.]

[animalqueen]

[Elle blinks at him. The chuckle is not what she was expecting, and its shift in tone confusing.]

What?

[coalheart]

[Corvus covers his mouth as if surprised by his own reaction.]

Nothing, just...

... Humans... Always wanting to do hopeless things.

[animalqueen]

[Elle isn't sure how to take that -- if she should be offended, or feel vaguely amused by how he's reacted to the chuckle, or sorry for him for calling it a hopeless endeavor.

She stops walking to look at him more directly.]

How do you know it's hopeless? You shouldn't be so quick to assume stuff like that. That's like preemptively... giving up.

[coalheart]

In a way, there's no real point. I've been here for who knows how long? Earth is my home whether I like it or not, or whether I try to grasp for straws that are beyond my reach.

[animalqueen]

[He has a point there, but still...]

It might be your home now, but thinking in finalities like that is probably the reason why you're so sad all the time.

[coalheart]

[... It's weird. Being told he's sad. There are other reasons too, but...]

Could think of worse reasons to be sorrowful, don't you think?

[animalqueen]

There's never a good reason to be sorrowful, Cor.

[She sighs. Then keeps walking, headed towards the car.]

Sometimes just talking about it is enough. You don't have to keep everything bottled up inside. That's what I'm here for, remember?

[coalheart]

... But you're just letting me...

[He's struggling again. He doesn't like it.]

... Letting me stay...

[animalqueen]

[She glances over her shoulder at him, having already gotten her keys out to unlock the car. The chill in the parking lot seems colder now than it did before, for some reason.

Again, she turns to look at him.]

...Of course. I care about you, and I want to make sure you're safe, warm, and fed.

[How easily she can say some things, and yet she's so easily embarrassed by other admissions. To Elle, some things are simply just a given.

The way he's saying it, though, she doesn't know how to interpret it. She feels a flicker of worry.]

You're not getting sick of me, are you?

[coalheart]

... No.

[He's looking away and covering his face. What the hell was happening? He's been trying to avoid things like this for so long, there's nothing good that can come out of this, nothing that he can do about it, nothing to be done, but...]

No.

[He says it twice meaning he's not bothered and yet his actions seem to muddle his message even more.]

[animalqueen]

[Now Elle is just even more confused. What a decidedly... strange reaction; kind of like a child, in some weird (and yet oddly endearing) way. She'd laugh, if not for the fact that she's not sure if this is really a reaction she should laugh at or not.

But she does step forward, closer to him, a hand around his arm and gently tugging it down, as if telling him to uncover his face. Her lips are trending upwards into a faint smile.]

Are you sure? What's gotten into you?

[coalheart]

... I think I'm sick.

[animalqueen]

[And now you're just worrying her.]

What? I hope you didn't catch what I had before...

[Excuse her as she brings up a hand to feel his forehead.]

Your temperature seems okay. What feels off?

[coalheart]

I don't know, but just don't... Stop.

[He takes another step back and then using the hand that was covering his face to gently redirect Elle away from him.

Of course, that only serves to show what he was hiding.

His face is flushed. Red cheeks and there's even a tint of color in his ears.]

[animalqueen]

[She blinks, dropping her hand down. At first, Elle thinks she's done something to offend Corvus; that is, until she sees the state of his face.

Oh my god.

Is he actually blushing?

She never thought she'd see the day. It's so... unlike him. She brings up her hands to her mouth, covering the smile that rushes to the surface.]

Are you... are you blushing?

[Why? What happened? Is he embarrassed that she said she'd take care of him?]

[coalheart]

[Corvus is struggling to find words. He covers up his face again with one palm, wanting to will the blood rushing to his face to fade away. Why was human biology so irritating? It always meant easily read actions and intentions even if it wasn't clear to the victim themselves.

He has NO idea what's going on.]

I. I don't.

Let's go.

[HEADING TOWARDS ELLE'S CAR]

[animalqueen]

But... it's cute! [She calls after him, as he walks off. Okay, maybe she's teasing a little. (Though it is kind of cute, she thinks. In a way that is quite serious. She's glad to see some emotion from him that isn't completely drywall, blunt, or sad.)

She follows, grinning, and unlocks the car. She slides into the driver's seat.]

I wasn't trying to make you feel embarrassed. I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you if you need anything.

[She thinks she's helping!]