sing_for_me: (scarf)
Alex Benedetto ([personal profile] sing_for_me) wrote in [community profile] middaeg2020-11-27 08:31 pm

[Closed]

Who: Alex Benedetto and Others
When: Later half of Noveur
Where: Places and things
What: Closed starters
Warnings: None!



Returning was a surreal feeling, a sensation similar to waking from a dream. Once again, she found herself going through the mirror, not quite sure how she arrived at the other side. All she knew was one moment she was back in Ergastulum, returning to the point before she had been taken a year ago, and the next she was back in the room of mirrors. She’s not quite sure how long she’s been gone, and she returns with a few injuries, but she brings no attention to it. All Alex does is try to go back to her usual routines. Brief as her stay was in her world, there were quite a few things that weighed on her mind.

long_live_the_queen: (ineffectual helmets)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2020-11-29 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[The object was a helmet; heavy, reinforced metal whose only openings were from the bottom where the neck would have been, and six little ports in front to see through. A heavy, oppressive thing.

There was a massive gouge carved in the side, near where the temple could have been; too much pressure, and the helmet would start to come apart.

It didn't have the scent of feathers or fur or the beastly things that made up Kaede's form now, but it was easy to identify her regardless. The oppressive metal also carried the chemical burn of floors cleaned too often, sterile walls, and latex gloves.

Kaede herself wasn't too hard to spot once Alex broke through the surface, her brilliant feathers still bristled up a bit into angry spiky shapes. She had turned away from the water, and had been stalking up the bank with stiff knees when the sound of a splash made her ears turn back. The Chimera looked--and jumped, like a startled cat.
]

Shit--Alex? Is that you?
hearthebell: (See these people they lie)

[personal profile] hearthebell 2020-11-30 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
[As recently as a year ago, L would have considered this sort of work beneath him. He taught geniuses, when he deigned to teach at all, and in those cases they were expected to keep up or drop off. He was adored more for this attitude, if anything; it made him more inaccessible, more mysterious and exalted by people like Mello, and... well. L had been rather indifferent to it, then, and he recognizes now, more than ever, what can happen when children are trained to feel that a human is both a father and a god to them.

It's kind of nice for them all to see his face, know him by his safe, fake name, and only think of him as the guy teaching them their letters and numbers. These are basic truths, absolutely... but they are also completely novel to these kids. They're hungry for the tools to understand their world better, and for once, the detective is equipped to actually nourish young intellects.

Class is over, and the youngsters are scampering off to play, when he bumps into a presence he hadn't seen for quite awhile, until recently.]


...Alex.

[Perhaps it's the association with Mello holding over, but he hasn't actually welcomed her back yet. There's a brief silence as he grapples with whether he should, before he simply says]

Thank you. The material is fairly basic, so... it would be really embarrassing, if I did a poor job presenting it.

[It's his idea of being modest; he doesn't realize that Alex is as educated as some of the much younger children.]
long_live_the_queen: (murder does not cure headaches)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2020-11-30 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
[With a worried crease in her frown, Kaede turned to double back. She hadn't seen Alex in...weeks. Too long to keep just missing her like ships passing each other in the night.]

I'm fine. Are you--

[The Chimera stopped short at the sight of that twisted metal thing, expression hardening immediately.]

...I didn't. I threw it away.
hearthebell: (I only want to hear the angels laugh)

[personal profile] hearthebell 2020-11-30 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
[A thin hand goes to tug at the hair on the back of his neck. Alex might notice that around each finger is the mottled line of a scar, as though each one was removed and reattached, new since the last time they spoke proper.]

I never thought of myself as a teacher, but... need brings it out in some people. It sounds like you know that, just as well.

[Still pale, thin and solemn, L does seem more substantial, tethered by more purpose, more intention, warmed perhaps by some inner flame.]

Well, yes, eventually, but... I'd meant to stop for coffee on the way back to the Haven. It's on me, if you'd like to join?

[Now that he has a paycheck again, he's proud that he can offer.]
long_live_the_queen: (ineffectual helmets)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2020-11-30 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
[Seeing Alex so close to a smile made Kaede feel...strangely light.

Seeing that expression dim twisted unpleasantly in her chest. The Chimera focused her glare on the remains of the helmet, shifting her blame and anger to the impassive piece of metal.
]

...it was my prison. I spent years staring at the inside of that thing. Got real well acquainted.

[As she spoke and the bitterness seeped into her voice like a poison, Kaede's tail lashed this way and then that, slow but agitated.]
long_live_the_queen: (quiet)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2020-11-30 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Kaede heard the metal crumple, a moment of surprise mingled with grim satisfaction as she watched the gleam of her most overt shackle fall away, to the murky depths and out of sight. Her tail stilled, and her feathers relaxed.]

...thanks.

[She sighed a breath she hadn't realized had been so tense, and reached to the hand Alex extended to her, expecting to help her up out of the water. But instead, the merrow squeezed her hand, and met Kaede's surprised glance with one that was soft, and gentle, and understanding.

From one prisoner to another.
]

It's...I'm, glad to see you again, Alex.
hearthebell: will credit if found (Famous and dumb at an early age)

[personal profile] hearthebell 2020-11-30 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[A lot has happened. A lot has changed. Bonds leave their mark on people, every one, every time, and L is no exception. Myr, ever earnest, has lived in his heart for a year. Light Yagami has brought the connection L has missed; both of them are more socially able than the detective, but more likely, his work at the orphanage has made his fake identity feel like he finally has a stake in something real, that matters.]

Ah... good.

[He wasn't expecting her to say no, but it still feels good for her to accept. Outside of his Bonded, L does rather keep to himself; he wouldn't ask if he and Alex didn't already have rapport. Perhaps he still feels guilty about Mello, the association exists, and it's some form of closure and repentance, through her.

Even normal has layers. In fact, when it comes to L, the more normal something seems, the stranger it actually is when cut to the core.]


Is there anything else you need to get before we go?

[There's a leather doctors' bag at his side, slightly worn, a birthday gift from Light. It's so much neater and smarter than just stuffing his pockets with chalk and abacuses.]
hearthebell: (Put on your doll faces)

[personal profile] hearthebell 2020-11-30 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
[He nods, turning to make sure she's following to start off on their way.]

Life's been kinder, lately, I suppose. I find that so long as I can keep busy, anything the world throws at me tends not to end badly.

[That's part of it. The fact that Light has made it here, at last, is probably most of it. Their souls slot so easily together, as much as a body in a coffin. That's probably not a coincidence.]

I'm glad you're back... but maybe it's better that you were gone. You missed a lot of unpleasantness.
long_live_the_queen: (I forget what she's looking at)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2020-11-30 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
[Kaede blinked, rumbling something to herself. Alex didn't want to leave the water--fine, that was fair. And it was a bit cold today, with a change of clothes at least half a city away. So no jumping in the water for Kaede either.]

I'm...nothing's bothering me right now. [Marginally better than Kaede's usual "I'm fine" excuse.] Where did you go? I haven't seen you in awhile.

[Around the mansion, yes, but also in the rest of the city.]
hearthebell: (I only want to hear the angels laugh)

[personal profile] hearthebell 2020-11-30 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Though L has a tendency toward self-absorption, and biting off more than most people would be able to chew in the name of stimulation, he doesn't associate regularly with that many people. The ones who have made impressions are worth keeping tabs on, and he does typically notice when they disappear, if not the precise moment they do.]

Yes; whole, I think.

[It could be a reference to his fingers, but again, as he often is, he's thinking of the sense of completion that comes from being Bonded to Light, the way so much makes sense that was hellish frustration and noise, before. Whether it's medicine or poison hardly matters; it's doing something good, and it makes him better. He smiles, neither overbright and manic, or bittersweet. It's reflexive, uncomplicated.]

I've seen you around, but when did you come back?
long_live_the_queen: (murder does not cure headaches)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2020-11-30 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah. While Kaede knelt so she could rest on her long ankles next to the Merrow, she fell quiet. Her tail flicked just the once before curling near her feet.

There was always that looming probability, wasn't it? Hovering over their heads, as long as the mirrors existed and their whims inscrutable. That they'd be sent back at any moment.

Some managed to return, though. Some...different, some lacking memories or knowledge they should have. And others, like Alex, reappearing fully formed as if nothing was amiss.
]

...did you want to go back?

Page 1 of 2