trainingwings | Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

[The voice that comes over the journal sounds...decidedly anxious. Certainly unhappy, confused, and generally out of his element. Giles has never done well under such circumstances, never done well with sudden changes of environs, especially when that change was a dark, dingy back room of a crumbling mansion to a cozy little village in the bright, if cold, sunlight.]

Right. This is, um, certainly new. Well done. Pleasant looking and, at the least, not outwardly mad.

I, um, I c-can't say that I see why you're bothering, of course. You've, y-you've got what you want. If you aren't going to let me go, then I'm sure you could think of...s-something else, at least.

I can wait. I, um, I h-have nothing but time, now.

[Anyone wandering by Good Spirits...well, the New Feather stuck on the roof might catch your eye. He's eyeing the drop to the ground with some wariness, but all the windows are closed with the bar traffic slowed down by the early afternoon. Without assistance, he will just try and fall, and with his new wings that will hurt a very great deal. By then, however, he'll have discovered that the telephone that just happens to look like a book has a map attached, and a guide, and from there he'll set about wandering about the plaza.

Maps are logical, reasonable, rational things. It seems to even match up to his general environs. It's a positive sign, although it's a positive sign pointing to a solution possibly even more insane than the idea that Drusilla is still tormenting him.]

Player Name: Hicku/Hickumu
Are you new?: N
Character Name: Rupert Giles
Character Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 2)

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[...was not expecting that.

Giles absolutely freezes when Grune hugs him, largely because his mind goes blank and he finds himself without any clue of how to react. He wants to respond to such an inherently warm gesture just because of what's come before, and he almost, almost succumbs again.

...no. Not again. Even if he has nothing left. But even so, the shock of being suddenly hugged like this leaves Giles quite dazed.]

H-Hello.

[As caught up as she is in her joy, Grune doesn't notice his odd non-reaction. She just keeps hugging him, her arms surprisingly strong given her appearance.]

I knew you'd come back, I knew it, I....

[Her breath catches a little, and she gives up on talking to just hold on. There are tears wetting her blue-green eyelashes, not quite spilling over. Not yet.]

P-Please let go.

[He can't demand, not in the face of...whoever this is, not in the face of all her joy and light and the utter need she seems to be holding onto him with. He can't demand, not against someone like this.

But he can plead. This is all just utterly unfair.]

P-Please don't cry.

[It's his tone that gets through to her, not his words. This isn't Giles telling her to let go because she's hugging him too tight by accident. This is....

She lets her arms drop, sits back, and just...looks at him. Without seeing him, she looks at him. The tears stay trapped in her eyelashes.

Finally, distantly, quietly, she says:] You don't remember...do you?

[Giles suddenly wishes, honestly and with all his heart, that Jenny was back. At least then he'd know why he was being caused so much pain simply by being in this person's presence, why some part of his soul seemed to be tearing itself to bits.

He can't look at her. Giles stares at a patch of dirt just to her left. His fingers have already dug little grooves in the earth between the buildings, and he looks about to cry himself at how unknowingly upsetting this has just become.]

N-No. Um, s-s-sorry. D-Don't, um...y-you shouldn't cry. It...i-it isn't worth it.

[He isn't worth it.]

[Giles looks upset. She can't let him be upset. She has to make him feel better.]

Oh, no, I'm not....

[She lifts her hand to brush at her eyes. And then she just stares at her fingers.

They're wet. Why are they wet?]

Yes, you are.

[He looks around desperately until his hand closes over the journal - it's the only thing that's making sense right now, and he's not sure why he's even expecting that much out of this nightmare.] S-So, so I'm afraid you've, um, m-mistaken me for someone else, a-and I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'm, I'm all right, but I have to...

[...do what? There's no escape, and the knowledge makes Giles visibly sag in defeat.]

...leave.

[She wipes at her other eye, then straightens where she's sitting. Her wings resettle against her back. Then, she shakes her head.]

I know who you are. You're Giles. You're my friend.

[She tries a smile, but can't quite make it.] My name is Grune.

N-No, I'm...

[But then he stops. Of all the traps Drusilla could have laid...no, he can't. Giles finds himself unwillingly relenting very slightly. A sigh, as he pushes himself up into a proper sitting position.]

It's...lovely to meet you, Grune.

But I don't remember you. H-How, um, h-how can we be friends if, if I don't know you?

[It's hard. Hearing Giles question their friendship--it takes a lot to hurt Grune, really hurt her, but this is a way. This is one of the best ways.

All the same, her voice stays level when she responds.]

I think you forgot me for a little while. But it's all right. I'm sure you'll remember soon.

[She stands up, then bends down and holds out her hand.] We should go inside. It's a little cold today, I think.

[He flinches away slightly when she offers her hand, at the implied offer in the gesture. Grune might notice that his hands are shaking, even twitching very faintly at memories of phantom pain and helplessness.

Even so, breathing around the sudden return of fear, Giles very slowly reaches out and takes her hand. Maybe he's just tired of waiting for the other shoe.]

Edited 2012-02-21 04:15 (UTC)

[...He's scared, too. Someone has hurt Giles very badly, and now he's scared. He thinks she might hurt him.

Now she's hurt as well. Not by what he's doing, of course not--he can't help it. But by the idea that anyone could harm her friend like this.

She won't let him be hurt again.

With so much care, she pulls him up. Her hand is lightly callused from gardening and her urn and her fingers are strong, but her skin is soft and warm and she's as gentle as a flower.

Once he's on his feet, she doesn't let go. She only says softly:] There. That's better.

[Is it? It's so hard to believe that this strange woman could somehow become cruel enough to cause him pain, here and now...but maybe she won't have to. Maybe he'll just have to watch her hurt and die. Maybe she's something his own subconscious dreamed up. Maybe, maybe, maybe...

...god, he's a mess, and he's acutely aware of it.]

I-It is?

Oh, yes. [After all, now he's on his feet and his hand is in hers.]

Don't you think so?

No. [His reply is immediate, and his voice a little stronger than it has been before. In this matter, at the least, Giles still has conviction.]

N-Not, not for me. N-No matter what anyone says.

[She considers him for a moment. Then:] Well, then, why don't we get a cup of tea together?

[She hasn't...really noticed his clothing problems.]

...yes. [Giles' voice is sad and faraway but at least, for the moment, steady.] Why don't we?

[If there's anything he needs more to help him figure out this mess, he can't think of what it might be.]

[She nods. That sounds like a very good idea.

Then she starts to walk, still holding his hand. She's forgotten that he doesn't know where the tea shop is anymore every bit as much as she's forgotten her basket and its spilled seed packets still lying on the ground nearby.]

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

/bows Might as well test out the idea first. I do apologize for the painfulness, though.

No worries, man--I'm just glad to get to write this in a decent time frame.

Same here. Might help me sort my plans out.

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