[Marni] It’s barely been 24 hours.
24 hours of silence.
24 hours of fury.
24 hours of blood.
24 hours of rage.
She remembers nothing [sherememberseverything] not even how she came to be here, or really where here is at first. All she knows is that this? This is a safe place. She needs that right now – and why is obvious immediately.
As usual she doesn’t bother with the real world entrances – instead there is a distinctive pop as she all but falls out of the umbra into his bathroom, landing on the floor with a thud and a pained grunt. She’s homid, which might be some measure of relief – until it registers that she is covered in blood…. 24 hours of blood, some dried, some not, some hers, most not…
And she just lays there. Presses her cheek to the cold tile of the floor, and closes her eyes. A shuddering sigh, an exhalation, and she simply… lays there in the middle of his bathroom, staining the pretty pristine room crimson.
[Marni] How bad is it?
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1 (Botch x 1 at target 6)
to Marni
[Marni] no, really.
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 4 (Failure at target 6)
to Marni
[Marni] are ya sure?
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1 (Botch x 1 at target 6)
to Marni
[Ray Ostermann] At the moment of the poor woman’s entrance into his bathroom Ray had been in the living room, the TV turned on to the news and of course it was the financial portion of it all. The part most people tune out or turn down, Ray had it up louder then most people turned on most interesting programs.
But when he heard the now distinctive popping of a garou passing from that other place into this place. He was on his feet looking around. He didn’t have a suspicious look on his face, that wouldn’t do. He seemed pleasant as he looked about for whoever might have come through. When his search of the kitchen and the living room revealed no traces however, he started to look elsewhere.
Bedroom nope, closet nope, balcony nope, bathroom… As he pushed the door open to his spacious bath Ray’s eye’s widen as he looks at the bundle of bloodied woman upon his tiled floor, he looked her over, hoping that not all of that blood was hers. He dropped to his knees before her and leant over to make sure she was breathing, and pushed her hair out of her face.
“Marni? Marni what the hell?”
[Marni] She doesn’t answer at first. He pushes her hair back, and her face is unmarked, though covered in blood. Her teeth are stained with it, her lips and tongue too. She’s breathing though, and it’s ragged and pained, but it’s breath, and she’s still alive.
That’s something.
[thatstheonlything]
And she’s awake, mostly. Her eyes are dulled with pain, with spent rage, with fear and agony and sheer mourning…
“Indira….” She pulls a ragged breath in, and just shudders into a sigh again…. “s’dead.”
[Ray Ostermann] He hadn’t really gotten to know Indira, he’d slept with her once…met her maybe three times, barely enough to say you really knew someone, surely not enough to call them your friend. But the news of the pink haired gnawer’s death still hit him like a slap, his eyes widening and he slips back a bit, falling onto his ass and staring back at her.
“No…surely not.”
He watches her as he sits there, and what was disbelief is replaced by sadness as it becomes apparent that Indira was indeed dead, and he would never have a chance to speak with the woman again. He closed his eye’s and sighed.
“I am so sorry Marni.”
[Marni] She looks at him as he falls backwards, his disbelief, and then she simply closes her eyes again. Each breath hurts. Wheezes. Like her lung is punctured – because it is, among other things. She doesn’t try to sit up though. The tile is so cool against her cheek – and it would hurt like a bitch. Instead, she reaches for his hand, her fingers sliding in a crimson smear along the tile until she can take his hand in hers.
Her grip isn’t near as strong as he knows it can be.
“….last night. I…didn’t get there in time….”
a breath.
“…myfault.”
[Ray Ostermann] He was already out of his suit, it was jeans and a dress shirt that covered his body right now, and odd combination perhaps. But one he wore anyways and which served him well at that moment. When her hand took his, spreading blood…quite possibly Indira’s blood across his tiles and then his hand. He could only stare at the red liquid. It was a horrific scene, and most would have run from the room…or maybe try to clean it up and sanitize the situation, but Ray knew that was not the way to do things.
Instead he gently pulled the woman into his lap, careful any injuries, careful that she might be in pain, he didnt afterall know if any of the blood was hers. Then he cradled her, as the anguished might want to be held and looked down into her face.
“You tried…I know you did.”
[Marni] She cries out softly when he pulls her into her lap, but she doesn’t resist, she doesn’t pull away… she simply lets her head fall to his shoulder, her breath warm [soft, so soft, barely there, barely felt… but warm…] across his neck as she collapses into him…
The dam breaks then, and what strength she’s had to hold back… is suddenly gone, and she clings to him and sobs. Body wracking, pain-filled, agonizing sobs of someone who’s lost… everything…
…and she simply doesn’t know where to go from here.
[Ray Ostermann] He winces as she cries out now knowing for certain that she was wounded. Where or how he couldn’t be certain as Ray was certainly not a doctor. Though much like the need to train with a weapon he now planned on getting some basic medical training.
She wimpers, and cries, sobs even. All he can do is hold her at this moment, hold her close and let her work out her tears in his arms. He knew that she would heal, Trueborn’s always manage to heal when given time.
“Come on Marni…lets get you somewhere comfortable.”
[Marni] She cries until she can’t anymore, until she’s as drained of them as she is of rage, of will, of everything. She cries until she’s an empty shell, and limp with the strain of it all.
He wants to get her somewhere comfortable, and she nods slightly, trembling with the sheer exhaustion of everything she’s been through – even what she doesn’t remember. Her voice is raw, pained, but soft still.
“….getting blood everywhere. …should shower first.”
She’ll heal in time. Physically.
[Ray Ostermann] “Ok…” He agree’s to the idea of cleaning her up, she really was a literally bloody mess. He looked her over for a brief moment and then said softly.
“As much as I’d love to make this a delightful moment Marni…I don’t think it will be. I’m going to remove your clothes, so that we can get you cleaned up.”
He waits a moment for her accent before slowly, and carefully peeling off the blood stained, blood drenched clothing. They were disposed of, tossed in the waste bin of the washroom never to be worn again. Once she was naked, he turned on the shower, and once it was warm, he picked her up and lowered her into it, bringing down the detachable shower head to help clean her off.
[Marni] She nods, slightly, and then does her best to help him pull her clothing off of her. She’s not sure where her backpack ended up. She may never find it – or it may be at the packhouse. She can’t even process the possibilities other than that. As the clothing is pulled off, he sees the wounds – gaping claw marks across her belly – deep and ragged, and a bitemark along one flank that was just inches from pulling large chunks from curvy hip. It’s a wonder anyone can survive such woulds – especially with the knowledge that though she’s really ripped up, there won’t even be a scare by the end of the week…
however – makes one wonder what the OTHER guys look like…
[…dead…]
When he lifts her into the shower she bites back another cry, though she can’t stop it from falling into a soft whimper as he uses the showerhead to help clean her off, caught held back behind bitten lower lip…
[Ray Ostermann] He’s careful, at least as careful as he can be. He knew that she could take the pain, that a bit of water into wound’s was nothing in comparison to what she and others of her kind had faced. But it was still pain, pain she didn’t have to endure, not after everything she had already been through. So he was careful, and took his time. Keeping the water off wounds as much as possible, until she was clean, not a spot of blood on her curvy form.
That done he once again lifted her from the bath and set her down on the toilet, he went for his first aid kit, he had one at the very least. He might not be great at first aid but he could at least apply basic bandages. Which he did carefully. He knew she wouldn’t need them, not really. But perhaps it would comfort her when she slept, if she could sleep.
“Let’s get you to bed Marni…you look like you could use it.”
[Marni] He’s careful with her, so careful, doing his best to clean her without pain. The water feels good, truth be told, as it washes away the last twenty-four hours, and by the time he’s done with that, and dressing her wounds – a two-fold blessing as she won’t bleed in his bed, and it provides support, and helps her breathe easier too.
It’s when he speaks again that it happens – the briefest curl of her lips upwards. Nothing close to an actual smile, but at least it was an attempt. Seems everytime she’s here she’s wet and in his bed – though usually in much different ways. But that the thought still exists, however briefly, is something.
It’s why she came here. THIS is a safe place.
but she just nods, damp curls clinging to her neck and jaw, as she starts to stand, hissing through her teeth. “Ray?” A pause, as she reaches for him again, her hand slipping into his, her grip tighter now, just a bit.
“…thanks.” for all of it – but mostly, for just being here.
[Ray Ostermann] Ray takes her hand, and lets her rest against him, ready to cary her if she cannot make it on her own. He was ready, and willing to be there for her if she needed him. When she thanked him, he gave her a small smile as he nodded, still looking solemn.
“I am here to help….however I can.” He said as he walked her out of his washroom and off towards the bed, its soft silken sheets were waiting to embrace her and give her a soft and gentle place to rest her head.
[Marni] It’s amazing really, when one thinks of the injuries that garou suffer, and still walk through, still fight through. She is not like so many – she feels every. single. agonizing. step. But she manages, somehow. She digs down, and though she leans on Ray far more than she’ll admit later – for emotional reasons even more so than physical.
She makes it on her feet though, and finally slides into his bed, between the silken sheets that have embraced her curvy form so many times before.
[Ray Ostermann] He helps her into the bed, and draws the covers up over her curvy form once she is comfortable. He isn’t sure if she really wants the covers over top of her, but they were light and silken, probably the best kind of sheet she could have on her body at the moment, so he did so anyways.
He watched her as she lay on the bed, though he did not join her. He was certain that she would not want someone against her, pushing against wounds that still needed time to heal. He did however take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Sleep Marni…you need it.”
[Marni] He takes her hand, and squeezes it – and doesn’t join her. It takes no time at all for her to challenge that decision, and she tugs on his hand a little, urging him to join her.
“…please? Just… hold me for a while…”
There’s such pain in her voice that has nothing to do with the ragged wounds under the bandages, and everything to do with the little girl lost in his great big bed.
[Ray Ostermann] Its not that he didn’t want to hold Marni in her moment of pain and loss. He just wasn’t sure if he should. But when she asks him to join her in bed and hold her. It’s all the convincing that he needs.
He slips into the bed next to her and gingerly wraps his arms around her, holding her close just as she wanted him to. His own eyes closing as he kissed her on the forehead, a comforting gesture as they laid there together.
“I shall lay as long as you want me to Marni.”
[Marni] She curls into him, and presses close as his arms slide so carefully around her. She breathes deeply of his scent, his presence, everything he is as she tucks her face against his neck, her head tucked so easily against his shoulder.
A deep shuddering breath, but she doesn’t break down this time. She takes another, and though tears run down her face, they are a silent tribute to her fallen sister, to the half of her soul that feels so empty without Indira, without Volcano, without the bonds that are tighter than anyone can ever truly understand without feeling it themselves.
It takes time, but soon her breathing evens out, and she relaxes against him – pain giving way to the purity of exhaustion, as she falls at last into a dreamless sleep, safely tucked against him.