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[hellorhighwater]

NEIL BLAIR
Black Fire of the Night Dragon
Kingslayer
Dragon Mage

(Spillover for threads, muse contact, mun contact--circle all that apply.)

Comments

Re: action:

[thefirething]

Keyword 'tried'.

[ Charlie isn't protecting The Shop. Merely trying to quell Neil's anger a tad. He can save that for later. ]

They uh...I was at school and dad was at work. He was an English Professor, in case you ever want to know where my love of books come from.

Mom was a stay-at-home mom and apparently they went to my house first to find me because...

[ You know what? She'll leave that implied as she gets distracted by her own horrible memory, shaking her head before continuing on. ]

School security was kind of bullshit when I was younger. All you needed was to say someone's parents sent you to pick their kid up so that's what they did. They said there was a family emergency and my parents needed me.

Dad found us a while later at a rest stop. I told them I had to use the bathroom and purposefully took a long time. Dad caught up to us and Pushed them into believing illusions. See, he did get abilities from the experiment, but...it was killing him. He'd get nosebleeds and really bad migraines, so they counted him a failure.

We spent a year on the road, running and stealing and lying to survive. And then they caught us again. They kept us separate for a year.

Re: action:

[hellorhighwater]

[...yeah, the anger isn't quelling. Having been the personal protector of a king, he wants to strangle whoever could be so lax with the safety of a goddamn child, the rage that flashes across his face for a moment is black, scary--flat out murderous.

Pushing it aside, he keeps his cool by beginning to meticulously plot out at least three different ways he's going to kill each and every individual responsible for this teenage girl's suffering as he rolls forward onto his knees, then stretches out on his side, propping himself up on his elbow so he's looking up at Charlie as she tells her story--so he's close enough to reach out if she needs it, prone and vulnerable if she doesn't and feels threatened.]

Ember's Breath, Charlie--I'm sorry. [His gentle voice doesn't betray his blood soaked thoughts.] Fucked up's an understatement.

Re: action:

[thefirething]

[ She probably won't be reaching out for hugs or anything any time soon. For now, she sits in a ball, her knees under her chin as she messes with her hair. Taking a moment to finger-brush it out of her eyes to put it up in a wild ponytail. ]

They're gone. All of them. They're gone because they tried to bribe me with everything a kid could want. They're gone because they kept me on some drug cocktail that kept me crying all day and night. They're gone because they sent someone to pretend to be my friend to get me to play along in the hopes that if I show them enough of what I can do, I'd see my dad again. And they're all gone because before I set them all on fire, the faces I saw and the ones I didn't who were just as guilty as everyone else there, they took my dad away for good.


I don't like sleep aids, no matter what they are, because of them. I remember everything. All of the tests, the bribes, the feeding tube because I decided I wasn't going to eat or comply, the IV's to keep me healthy. Everything.

Look...

[ Charlie can easily see where she's being wrong, but separating things and actually compartmentalizing them properly? It's not as easy, try as she might. ]

I'm...not going to say I'm fine, cuz there's no such thing. But I'll be okay just sitting up and reading for a few hours. I promise.

Re: action:

[hellorhighwater]

[Neil sighs, looking away for a second as he rolls his lips together. He can't blame her for it, not one lick--but she's a damn kid. She can't just avoid sleep the rest of her life, and she has to start somewhere. He's not going to let this go when he can help, and he can help.

He just has to figure out how.

With a grunt, he flops on his back so he's looking up at her, just upside down. He says nothing for a long moment, then gestures with one hand as he speaks, the other resting on his stomach comfortably as he draws his knees up to plant his feet on the ground.]

So...what if I can stop the dreams without a sleep aid? You sleep on your own--but no burnt sheets. Would that be okay?

Re: action:

[thefirething]

That sounds like a fair compromise.

[ Charlie can do compromises. They help her feel like she has a say. A choice. That she can be part of the process instead of a bystander. Where others aren't in full control. So she nods at Neil, offering him a small, tired smile. ]

I can do that. I'll give it a try.

Re: action:

[hellorhighwater]

[Success! Neil grins, then raises a fist in the air, angled in Charlie's general direction for a fistbump.]

All I ask.

[Don't leave him hanging, kiddo.]

Re: action:

[thefirething]

[ What? What is going on? She has no idea what he's doing, so there's going to be a lot of super confused looks at his hand and then at him before very tentatively returning the gesture and looking at him like 'was that right?' ]

Re: action:

[hellorhighwater]

[The oh so hesitant little fistbump gets a triumphant laugh--very good, you're learning, Charlie! Rolling over on his stomach with the grace of a cat, he used a push up to spring into a crouch, then up to his feet with a sharp little whistle.]

Okay! Into bed, chop chop. I got an idea, get comfortable.

Re: action:

[thefirething]

[ At first, she thinks he’s laughing because she did it wrong, but since he didn’t correct her after, that thought is pushed away quickly in favor of a small smile. She stands quickly, not quite as graceful as Neil and heads over to the bed, stretching out on her side and facing the door. ]

This is only a one time thing. If this happens again, I’ll sleep in my room. You shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor, Neil.

Re: action:

[hellorhighwater]

[Neil makes a show of sticking a finger in his ear, as if to clear it out.]

Huh? How's that? I'm sorry, I can't hear you--I see your lips moving, but it's just 'blah blah blah blah.' So weird.

[Grinning, he sinks to his knees next to the bed and gives her shoulder a fond little pat.]

You should've seen some of the places I slept on assignment on the mountain passes of Torrel--this floor's way softer 'n some of those rocks, sprout. Now c'mon--you comfortable? That how you sleep? Charm takes a little time to cast, if you get tired on your own while I'm doin' it, I don't want you to have to roll over and wake yourself up.