fh_adventures | The Oubliette and Surrounding Corridors, Saturday

The Oubliette and Surrounding Corridors, Saturday

There's no hope. No one's coming for you. No one wanted you, that's why you were taken. Except now, even Jareth doesn't want you. No one does. No one's coming. No hope. No hope. No hope no hope no hope nohopenohopenohopenohope...

The three captives had been in Jareth's oubliette for days now, with the mantra getting ever-louder in their ears and minds. Whether it was just a trick to get them to beg Jareth to take them back, or you're just setting an example for the others still left in the throne room remains to be seen. Whatever the case might be, things are looking pretty grim. The constant litany of 'no hope' and 'no one wants you' is getting awfully hard to ignore...

[For a few members of Team Distraction and a couple of brave would-be princess and prince escape artists! If any of you need an NPC for this post, please, visit us over at this post and we'll send somebody by as soon as we can!]

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The wounded animal analogy was an apt one, but he wasn't lashing out. He shrank away from her a little, and refused to look at her. She wasn't real. She couldn't be real. Nobody wanted him. Nobody was going to come for him. He was all alone, and it was better that way.

Rinoa counted to ten and took a deep breath. Something had hurt him, badly, and he was closed off. Pulled in as far as he could go. She needed patience.

"It's okay," she said, reaching out tentatively to place a hand on his back. If he jerked away, she'd bring it back to herself again. "You're safe. We found you. Now we can all go home."

He did jerk away, and started rocking a little. "I'm all alone," he murmured. She had to go away so that he could hate being alone in peace.

"Now you're just being silly," she said, forcing her voice to be light. "I'm here. I came all this way, just to find you, and I did. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Not we any more. He didn't trust other people, that they cared, that they noticed. But he was her Knight. He'd gone through hell to save her. Maybe he could at least accept that she would gladly do the same, for him.

Edited 2010-12-11 21:39 (UTC)

It... sounded like Rinoa. Squall looked up at her timidly, hopefully, and then back down at the floor. It LOOKED like Rinoa. But no one was coming for him, so it couldn't be.

"I'm better off on my own," he insisted softly.

"You are?" Rinoa asked, glancing around. "I don't know. I'm not really fond of the decorating, here."

She flopped down onto the ground next to him. He'd looked over once. Maybe he would again.

"Besides," she continued, "it doesn't matter if you're better off on your own. I'm not. I need you."

She was being playful, but that needed a good, long silence so he could hear how much she meant that. And she did. More than anything else in her whole life.

"So it looks like I'll have to get used to it, here," she continued, back to the same breezy tone as before. "I brought blankets. I bet it gets cold."

Squall looked over again... It WAS Rinoa, wasn't it?! And she... she was going to...

"No..." he insisted. "You don't want to... It sucks here."

Why was she doing this? Why didn't she just go and leave him alone? It was so much better, so much easier that way. And nobody wanted him anyway, so what was she doing coming for him like this?

She had his eyes, and now she was going to do her best to hold them.

"Then let's get out of here," she smiled. "There are all kinds of places that don't suck. Pick one. Let's go there."

Squall looked at her hopefully. She... did she really want him around? "You go," he told her. "I'm better off on my own. Nobody wants me, anyway."

The hopelessness was still eating at him, oozing in through his pores... but he was a little more himself just now.

Rinoa was tempted to do oh so very many things. Including smack him in the face until he made sense. Including grab him and kiss him, which immediately caused a huge stab of guilt to settle in her stomach. Including scream and drag him out of here by his hair, because maybe out in the sunshine he'd make more sense. The gloom was getting to him.

Not like he wasn't capable of producing it all on his own.

She reached for the front ruff of his jacket and tugged on it, pulling him close and resting her forehead against his.

"You were gone," she said, her voice trembling. "You were gone, and I couldn't find you. All I wanted was to get my wings out and hurt the person who took you away. I'm here. I found you. If you want to sit here for the rest of your life because you like it here, that's fine, that's your decision. But don't you ever tell me nobody wants you."

Squall stiffened when she grabbed him, but slowly her words got through to him. She... wanted him. She came for him. She almost risked unleashing her Sorceress powers for him.

He... wasn't alone. For the first time in his life, he'd cared about someone and she HADN'T left him, and had actually come and found him when they were driven apart.

It was cold in that oubliette, but he was feeling warmer.

He wrapped his arms around Rinoa and clung to her as tightly as he could. He was never letting go. Never, ever.

It was okay. They could sit here on the floor as long as he needed to. She needed to hold on for a while, too. It was okay. He was back, he wasn't hurt, he wasn't dead, and he wasn't sounding sad and broken any more.

Eventually, they'd get out of here. There were more people to rescue. There was a guy in tight pants that needed to be stopped. There were people back in Fandom who were worried about them both. But right now, she was just going to breathe in and stay right here.

She'd come for him.

He wasn't alone.

Maybe he wouldn't have to be alone.

He clung to her tightly, a little afraid she might change her mind and leave again.

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The Oubliette and Surrounding Corridors, Saturday

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