"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Nov 30, 2015 17:49:28 GMT -8
The soft tick tock of a clock in the hall roused Sienna from her mindless wandering. She blinked, shaking her head and stared at the door she'd been standing outside of for quite some time. How much was hard to tell. She'd spaced out at some point and her frayed nerves and distracted mind had lost track of time. Glancing to the clock a moment she sighed and looked to her hands which clutched a large brown paper bag with handles.
She'd been here a few times since the Garden madness had gone down. Mostly in the super early morning hours when no one would pay much attention to her popping in. Never for very long and it was more like she'd poke her head in the door and then slip back out. She didn't like being in there at all and even less so because having to look at people ailing in bed was not something she dealt with very well if at all. Even more so when she knew the prone forms and had a hand in the injuries. Even after hearing the idiot rainbow had woken up she'd avoided the place. And here she was again but this time she might find him conscious and she wasn't quite ready to deal with it so she'd waited and spaced out.
The rest of her time had been spent keeping busy and distracted. She couldn't let herself get too upset or she'd have more problems to deal with. Besides, she had plans to fulfill and letting her mind break back down simply wasn't an option anymore.
It was time to just slip in and leave the thing. No way would he be up. Finally she leaned forward, cracking the door open to take a peek inside. Her trepidation with this was absolutely ridiculous but she didn't like dwelling on the whys because there was no simple answer. It wasn't like she could avoid him forever after all. The HQ was huge but they live din the same room. It was literally impossible to hide from the annoying imp for all eternity. But she would try as long as was possible! The door moved silently in the still morning air as she slowly shifted about to look in and hoped to see him sleeping and still in his bed.
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Nov 30, 2015 21:02:10 GMT -8
The infirmary was much the same as it were the mornings previously, minus the presence of one or two medics, surprisingly. Though it was still quiet, stuffy, and filled with sickly and hurt bodies whom slept the morning away. As was the cure-all for most sustained injuries and illnesses. Sleep. Rest. And laying still. For several hours. While the body and applied care did the mending upon whatever happened to be the matter. It was a long and dull process, one of which Maxwell despised. The Rainbow Man-Child had only been painfully aware of his surroundings for all of a day, and already he was bored to death.
He wasn't allowed to move. Only to lie still in his bed and stare at the glaringly white walls, while medics came and went, every so often, to check up on how he was fairing. Maxwell thought he was fairing quite well, and was a frequent pain for Medics. Often complaining that his sheets made his toes itch, or that his bed was made of pins. All as an excuse to get out of bed and distract them for a few minutes. Just so that he might wander off a few dozen paces before he was dragged back to stuffy sheets and a singular view of the ceiling.
It was a view he grew weary of in the short time he'd become familiar with it. And one he deemed worthy of forgetting very quickly. No matter if the Medics deemed he was in pain, or that breathing was apparently difficult for him--Maxwell felt perfectly fine. Fine enough to stand on his own two feet and fine enough to take a leisurely stroll away from his bed. There was no one to stop him this time. He'd sent away his assigned medic with a request for coloring books and Crayons--to keep himself occupied. Medics whom had left just moments before Sienna had snapped back to reality from her weary zoning.
He'd be gone by the time they got back. At least he planned to be. It would only take a minute to gather his belongings. Everything was neatly packed in a bedside drawer, just in his reach. Giggling stiffly at the dumbness of Doctors, Maxwell stood unsteadily at the side of his bed, fighting a loosing battle against the frown that pulled at his mouth. Raising his left arm pulled at something sharp in his chest, like wires and hooks buried deeper than skin. Forcing muscle and more to stretch farther than it ought to, tightening Maxwell's smile with the pain until it hardly seemed a smile at all.
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Nov 30, 2015 21:34:21 GMT -8
The first thing Sienna noticed was the lack of nurses. Usually at least one was here keeping an eye on the patients. Poking her head in further with less hesitation she leaned forward just enough to see the beds and the sleeping lumps under the sheets. Her gaze focused on a shape near Maxwell's bed and her initial thought was a ghost. Nearly two centuries of this life and still the idea of ghosts frightened her. Such a coward. But a second later her mind processed the rest of the scene and the color in the hair and she felt silly for thinking it had been a disembodied spirit a moment before.
Maxwell was up and out of bed, unsupervised and still being the eternally reckless fool he'd been the night they'd been in that garden. He did not look happy though and he had to be in pain. What was he even doing? She hesitated though, hovering in the doorway and finally decided to walk over to him. She crept closer, her footsteps nearly silent from years of practice. The only thing that might give her away was the paper bag as the contents shifted upon being moved when she stopped a few feet away.
"......" Her mouth opened but nothing came out. What did she say? She was a bit torn really. On one hand she felt she needed to apologize but another part of her wanted to slug him a good number of times. Thankfully her logical mind kept that violent outburst reigned in and under control. Beating him up now would only upset her later. So instead she said nothing and instead glanced at his bandaged wounds and other medial accessories that he'd pulled off with a defeated look on her face. Was it going to be like this all the time? Was he going to keep this up until he ran out of luck and just didn't get to come back? Where would that leave her? She'd spent so much time keeping her self detached and had thought it was a bad idea. But maybe that was the best way to be in the end. If you didn't care it couldn't hurt. And if it couldn't hurt then everything was fine?
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Dec 1, 2015 10:50:33 GMT -8
With no one there to see, Maxwell let his frown hang prominently across his jaw. His mouth weighted by an angry pout as he slowly lowered his arms to his sides with greater care than was his custom. Pale fingers mimicked the curl of his mouth against his chest, digging for the wires buried deep in his skin and stifling his lungs. The pain he felt was very real. More real than he'd felt in a long time. He might have laughed at the matter, but a scoff was all that slipped past his teeth. Laying still gave him too much free time to dwell on the ache, and dwelling in the ache was as pain staking as staring at white walls he hadn't the paint the color on.
He made a solemn swear with a wheezy breath to hunt down a few buckets of pigment to lighten the room with, when the deft sound of paper rattled in his ears. The slouch in his spine straightened suddenly, and Maxwells frown became abruptly weightless as a smile shot rigidly into his cheeks as he became terribly aware of the mousy presence lurking behind him. His first thoughts were of crayon toting Medics, but he couldn't fathom the lot of them walking with such feather light strides. They were much noisier and pronounced than that. Doctors were a very high and mighty sort, after all, like gods. He might have imagined it was some other visitor for the patient sleeping a few meters behind him, but the presence was too close to be someone else's visitor. Too...familiar.
For a few quiet seconds, Maxwell's lips hung parted at a hairs width. An airy gasp of breath preparing a lofty chortle that came bubbling from his throat as he turned with a flourish to greet the young maid lurking in his shadow. "Well hello there! I wondered when I might see you. Did you bring me something yummy?" His hands flew away from his chest to grasp at the straps of his bag as it hung from his shoulders, and stuck his nose high in the air with a delicate sniff. Perhaps just a little too hopeful she might bare him gifts of a sugary nature.
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 1, 2015 15:20:17 GMT -8
The change in her teammates posture once he heard her there was painfully obvious, he was up and moving and still in so much pain. His usual smile and ridiculous laugh was all there, seemingly intact as if he hadn't been just prone in a hospital bed once he turned to face her fully. Her earlier mental battle was still being waged but it was shoved to the background for a second as he asked if she'd brought him anything to eat. The paper bag's straps sat firmly in her grasp as she stared at him impassively. Her lips were set into a firm line and and she had a guarded look on her face as she dropped her head to stare at her feet. Sienna simply wasn't sure what to think and even less sure of how to act at this point.
While someone being hurt upset her no matter who it was it never ran any deeper than the surface. She'd never had to deal with losing anyone close to her, not even when she'd been alive so she was grossly under prepared for the things she'd had to deal with since coming home. Fleetingly her gaze lifted enough to scrutinize his wounds and hovered on the place he'd been pulling off his bandaging before she finally held the bag out to him, wordlessly. This would've been easier if he'd still been in bed. She could've just left it anonymously and continued to avoid him. There were a million things she wanted to say but she was just lost on how it could even be addressed and all the ways it could go wrong. He wouldn't take any of it seriously being the chief concern and she'd feel stupid and silly as he laughed at her and then be stuck watching him continue his reckless endeavors knowing she'd be powerless to stop it. Or he'd ignore it entirely in favor of another topic. Or the rare chance that he'd be angry and finally tell her to stop nagging him and go away. She had failed to be of any real use during that scuffle so it was partly her fault he was injured to begin with. Though it seemed the most unlikely she'd never imagined she herself would get as livid as she could so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. The idea had never crossed her mind till now but even imagining it made her feel uncomfortable and small. And then guilty because she was utterly awful to him all the time. She had no right to be upset at the prospect of those roles being reversed but she was.
So staying silent was the best option. He could take the bag and she could just leave, he'd be plenty occupied with the contents she was sure. She had indeed brought him sugar, despite her own reservations against feeding the ill. A box of taffy she'd gotten at the fair. Assorted flavors of course. Also a stuffed unicorn with a pastel rainbow colored mane and tail. She thought of him upon seeing it as well and together they made a small, but more or less thoughtful care package. She wanted to say he'd have to stay in bed if he wanted it but that got lumped in with her earlier fears. The moment her hands were relieved of the bag she'd turn to head back the way she'd come. A true coward to the end.
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Dec 2, 2015 11:50:46 GMT -8
It had always been very entertaining to watch the gears turn in Sisi's head, her eyes swimming with the glimmer of her thoughts. With whatever emotions were churning silently inside her, it made her eyes light up in ways he adored. Maxwell often wondered if she knew just how expressive she really was. In this way, He could nearly read her every thought without need for words, or a psychic helmet. Most days he made a game of her silence, reading her mind and responding thus, just to get a rise out of her and see that vibrancy he so loved, but she seemed more withdrawn than he was used to. Her pretty gold eyes darkened with a dull and withdrawn haze of gray as she extended the paper bag to him.
Despite the melancholy of her demeanor, Maxwell snapped up the bag with an eagerness to see what bland and drab devices she'd brought him. Something harmless, probably, like a fancy novel or a bowl of vegetable soup. Those seemed like very Sienna type gifts. Healthy, Educational, and Boring. He bounced on his toes as he tore the handles outwards to peer inside, carelessly ripping the sides as he exposed it's contents.
The bounce in his soles faltered as the very corners of Maxwell's smile tightened and his eyes brightened with a hue of surprise. There was no containing the childlike awe as he drew the Unicorn Plushie out from the bottom of the bag, holding it like a prized trophy. "Wow-wee....Rainbow unicorn! For me? Awe, you're the best Sisi! And Taffy? Goosh, look'it! There's even Blueberry and Grape in here! I outta get sick more often....."
Maxwell giggled and stuck out his tongue at the thought of how horrible it would be to be sick very often just to get a few neat treats. He was 'miserable' as it were just being stuck in the infirmary for the little boo-boos he had now. They were very thoughtful, though; the gifts Sienna had brought him. More thoughtful than he expected her capable of. As he was petting the soft and colorful mane of the unicorn, Maxwell spied his mousy little maid heading for the door without so much of a holler or a hello. How rude!
Darting after as quickly as he was able, Plushie in tow, Maxwell threw himself at Sienna's back to wrap his arms tightly around her shoulders. A subtle hiss escaped his lips, alongside a bubbly giggle, as he nuzzled his nose stiffly against her thick and curly hair. "You're the best, Sisi. I always wanted my own Unicorn!"
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 2, 2015 15:09:23 GMT -8
For a moment Sienna thought she might actually escape. Her head twitched up to grab the door handle in mid stride when the sound of feet coming her way killed any hopes of actually getting out of there. Her stance bumped forward a bit as he made contact, practically throwing himself at her and latching on like some excited little monkey. How silly to think he'd have stayed distracted long enough for her to get away. Thankfully he was light enough that she stayed standing, her hands fisted in her jacket tail to keep from back handing him off. She did not understand his odd preoccupation with her hair. It was dark and boring and a pain most of the time.
The maid was not surprised that he had always wanted a unicorn. Not mentioning their mythical non existence it seemed right up his alley. A stuffed toy and candy, look what e'd done to her. She'd have normally bright something much more safe and healthy. But she'd figured he'd appreciate the color and the sugar more being in a mostly colorless and sugarless environment. Still, her trepidation from before still lingered but not as much. Surely he wouldn't have tackled her from behind if he might be holding any contempt for her actions or lack there of.
With that question partially answered though she felt she could address the other concern. Even if she was upset and still feeling guilty it was nice to know she'd done well with the care package. However... "Maxwell.... are you... okay? Doesn't it hurt?" she asked her voice timid and still unsure but full of genuine concern. She could still see him on his knees with that thing protruding from his chest. She'd never unsee it.
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Dec 2, 2015 17:51:19 GMT -8
At the cue of his name, Maxwell's posture became rigid in a reflexive preparation for the expected abuse. There always came a slap or a shove when he displayed his open affections upon Sienna's persons. She was a finicky little finch like that. Though she didn't even bare her teeth for him in a gnarling gnash of cursory remarks. Instead, her voice mirrored the quiet shadow that lurked in her eyes.
He didn't say anything at first, silently squeezing her tighter into his chest to stifle the sting of healing wounds. Even when all it did was stress his wounds further and add to the ache. Not that he'd let it show. Not that he'd try. Nestling his cheek against her shoulder, He cackled in soft bemusement, muffling the sound in her hair and her clothes. "What a silly thing to ask. I feel right as rain!"
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 2, 2015 22:12:30 GMT -8
Sienna held her breath and waited for some kind of response. At first all she got was silence. But then he squeezed her tighter and did as she'd expected. Laughed and more or less ignored the issue. The grip on her jacket tail tightened as she fought to keep control. She didn't want to say anymore. He didn't care enough and she cared too much. A conversation about her worries would go nowhere. But her indignation won out in the end and she responded to his asinine reply.
"Maxwell.... y-you nearly died." She choked out after struggling with the words for a moment. Every time she closed her eyes she cuold see it. She hated it. Being reminded of the one time she'd been needed for more than cleaning and how little she'd done to help. He'd always been stupid and reckless but she'd never imagined he'd be this bad. And she'd never imagined it would bother her so much. Unshed tears shined in her eyes but she adamantly refused to let them fall. Crying was useless and it never solved anything before and now was no different.
Her shoulders shook slightly but she resisted the growing need to be rid of her unwanted human cape. It might hurt him and despite how torn she was about everything she'd never be able to so much as swat him at the moment. "I was scared." She confessed her voice a s soft, sad little whisper as she waited for him to continue laughing at her pathetic little concerns. She'd been so afraid but somehow she'd managed to shove it down and take a hold of the situation. But that kind of bravery only showed up when it wasn't for her. As if it needed to be a dire situation to be of any use. So now she was simply afraid. He wasn't going to come back from it one day and she was at a loss of what to do when that happened.
"P-please.... l-let me g-g-go." She stuttered weakly. Her poor heart wasn't used to caring so deeply and now that it did the poor maid couldn't cope well under such distress. Things might be better... if they went back to normal. She could go back to hating him quietly and he could be as reckless as he pleased and be free of her nagging and worrying.
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Dec 3, 2015 10:37:35 GMT -8
She'd be correct in guessing Maxwell would laugh at her again. What else was he supposed to do? Death was such a funny thing. At least where it involved Rainbows. Sienna was so upset by the prospect though. It didn't help the matter that she had to witness him at his worst. So vulnerable and....mortal. Rainbows weren't meant to be mortal. Though he'd survived, hadn't he? He was still here. So why was she so sad?
Maxwell clung tighter to the woman despite her request. A giggle involuntarily bubbling past his lips to reflexively hide the twinge of ache in his voice. "Don't be a Silly Sisi. Rainbows can't die," Maxwell retorted cheerfully, the sound almost forced. "You don't have to be scared for me. If you just believe, I'll never disappear. Never ever! Like Santa! And Leprechauns! Kay?"
"Silly, silly, Sisi." He giggled again, shaking against her back and nuzzling her hair fiercely like an itch was stuck in his nose. How absurd of her to think that he, of all people, could possible disappear from this world. What an absolutely, ridiculously, improbable idea. "You were so brave and magnificent. Just the Sisi I like to see! Promise you'll always be my big brave girl and I'll let you go.......Kay? No more Fraidy-Maid. It's terribly unbecoming!"
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 3, 2015 11:50:40 GMT -8
It was a good thing Sienna's hands were fisted so tightly in her jacket. Otherwise she'd have finally backhanded him. It was taking a good deal of mental will power to fight off the urge to hit him in some form. Her hands almost burned with the desire to do so. Nut that tiny shred of logic was tough enough to keep her from losing it and wailing on him. She couldn't hit him, no matter how much the stupid crap he'd just said made her want to. Rainbows couldn't die? So absurd, so stupid, so him. He didn't let her go either, just tightened his grip on her like a snake would something it intended to shove down it's throat and consume slowly.
She didn't believe in Santa or Leprechauns. She was far too logical for that kind of thing. But she stayed silent, refusing to say anything at this point. It was childish and silly but she got the feeling he was trying to make her feel better. Not that it was easy to feel better about nearly watching someone you knew die. But it was better than him being upset about it so she felt her nerves calm some.
An odd shudder traveled up her spine as he shoved his face further into her hair. What in the world was his problem?! And what was he even talking about? Brave and magnificent. She'd been about as magnificent as a raised root on a forest trail. Unexpected but easily dealt with. Heck a tree root might have done more damage. Her gaze shifted to the side, still massively upset with him but slowly formulating a plan. She didn't want to go back to not having anyone to talk to and despite his eccentric demeanor he was the only one she was herself with. But she knew he was going to keep being stupid. She would just have to be stronger so next time he wouldn't get hurt. And she did hate being a coward. The self loathing that trait burdened her with was almost nauseating. It was exceedingly unbecoming. That they could agree on.
"No more Fraidy-Maid." She replied finally her voice carried a raw edge to it but was still soft and vulnerable. "But on one condition." She pushed on his arms enough to turn around and stare him dead in the eyes. "I'm going to protect you so I need to be stronger. But you... when you're out there I can't keep you and your stupid multi-colored hide safe. So please, be more careful because I... I need you here." She really did. No matter now infuriating it was to come to terms with that she couldn't deny it. She was stuck with this stupid rainbow nerd.
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Dec 3, 2015 12:39:26 GMT -8
Letting his arms be brushed away, if only because of her initial reply, Maxwell stare right back at Sienna. Donning a simple, stupid smile while he wrapped his arms around the soft unicorn plushie dangling in his hands. He barely paid her words any heed, letting them all flow in one ear and out the other. It was all the typical conditions he expected of her. Of anyone, really. 'Be careful. Don't be dumb. Safety first.' Kid stuff of nurturing doting types. Which Sienna wasn't, not often. He was surprised to find that nothing she said was typical, though. It was all very un-Sienna and more.... something new. Something........Sienna.
Her eyes were vibrant and dark like brilliant gold suns, baring witness to a character of the young woman he'd never known. It pulled at his mouth with a subtle but very noticeable twitch that shoved his smile tight into his cheeks. Burrowing his fingers into the plushie like the daggers in his heart, Maxwell chortled a proud acknowledgement to her demands. "There's my Sisi......." Should he even bother making promises he knew he couldn't keep? Where was the fun in behaving? "Does it count if I try?"
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 3, 2015 13:22:18 GMT -8
"No." Sienna's reply was quick and to the point. "Trying only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades." A well known sarcastic quip she'd heard enough over the years. She wasn't asking him to stop being himself that was impossible. She'd never assume that and she didn't want it. Well most of the time. "You're going to be reckless I know, but just... come back, that's all. Don't try, just do it." She didn't think it was too much to ask. She liked to imagine he cared enough on some level to at least remember this conversation if he got into more trouble than he could handle. But she supposed that was wishful thinking. It wasn't like she was special or anything. She was just his only sane teammate.
She supposed it was selfish to continue asking that he be careful when it was obvious he disregarded this kind of thing completely. But she didn't ask for much, ever. So she was perfectly fine pulling the selfish card on this one. She had a lot of things she wanted sure but she'd never had anything she'd needed. And now that she did she wasn't about to back down on it so easily. He didn't have to be around or in her face. She just needed to know he existed.
"Okay?" She asked giving him another chance to answer, correctly this time. There was still that fleeting chance that she'd pushed him too far and he might lash out though. He was squeezing that unicorn awfully tightly. She honestly had no idea where he was going to do but she had just unintentionally hung herself out on a limb here. Would being selfish get her shoved off? Or worse left to hang?
|
|
IT WASN'T ME, I TELL YA! IT WAS THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!
Group
Full Member
Posts
143
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by misterrainbow on Dec 3, 2015 13:49:24 GMT -8
Another laugh choked itself past his lips, as if their entire conversation was composed of private jokes only they understood. His smile still tight and holding firm as he shook with bemusement of her boldness. Stifling the tremor in his bones, Maxwell firmly nodded for Sienna and offered he that single response she so desperately needed.
"Okay."
Loosening a claw from the unicorn a moment later, Maxwell drew a finger up between them and tapped it lightly against his temple, and then against her chest. His smile drawing tighter with that subtle little twitch. "Just in case....... If you ever get scared, remember me up here, 'kay? And I'll Always be riiiight here......Just in case....."
|
|
"I sometimes wish I was small enough to drink from a thimble~"
Group
Senior Member
Posts
274
Application
Status
Offline
|
Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 3, 2015 18:57:12 GMT -8
At his one worded response Sienna let the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding out in a soft rush of air. It was more than she'd dared to hope but there it was. An affirmative response. Now this didn't save her from worrying, she'd always worry. But it would more out of habit than any real dire situation. Her shoulders sagged in relief and fatigue settled in immediately. She hadn't realized she'd been so tense all this time. How unhealthy.
Refocusing her attention on Maxwell she blinked quietly as he tapped his head and then her chest. She looked a little surprised at his words but nodded her head sagely up and down a few times. Such a silly notion, but it was sweet all the same and well received. That odd little twitch was there again and wondered at the back of her mind if there was some significance to it. It was a same she hand't yet mastered the confusing conundrum that was Maxwellian.
"Just in case." She replied a shy smile spreading across her face afterwards. She was so relieved. She'd been fretting like a little old woman for a couple days now with a few moments of reprieve here and there. She might have hugged him but she seen that nasty wound of his and held off, instead she grasped his hand in her own and inclined her head towards his bed. You know, where he was supposed to be healing.
|
|
