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Post by Sastre Quicksilver on Aug 7, 2011 14:42:37 GMT -5
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This mask of glass is what I choose to wear
So I won't ever have the need to bear
The total truth to anyone but me... | Sastre walked silently down the street, her grey trench coat pulled tightly around her.
The sun was just beginning to set beyond the rim of the horizon, and the night to come promised to be cool and clear, much to her relief. It had been hot today, and she'd felt like she was on the brink of fainting more than once, though she still stubbornly refused to remove her long jacket. She didn't really expect anyone to understand, that with all of the gruesome scars that she'd gained during her months of torture she didn't feel comfortable without the trench coat. How could she explain it, after all? The coat had become something like a security blanket for her, and as long as she had it to conceal herself, she was alright, despite the heat, despite anything.
Brennan had been understanding, at least, and accepting even of the fact that Sastre wasn't quite able to stand being touched just yet. She was trying as hard as she could to move beyond her trauma, and Brennan was a huge help whether the witch knew it or not, but there was still a long way to go until she was back to her old self.
My old self...
She wondered, not for the first time, if that would ever happen. Sastre worried that too much had changed her, and that she'd never be able to get the life she'd left behind--the life she'd had stolen from her--back on track. Even now, weeks after her return, everything was still in chaos. There was Allison, the daughter that she'd thought dead years ago, suddenly alive and real, and desperately wanting to know her mother... There was Axel, her newly discovered half-brother who she still didn't entirely trust, for he had a serious grudge against their father Florian... And, of course, there was Darian, still out there somewhere, planning, plotting, and no doubt biding his time.
Plus, on top of all of that, there was the handful of friends that she'd left behind, most of whom were still grieving the loss of Lily Faraday-Brennan, the woman that Sastre had been before. Months ago she'd run into one such friend, a loup garou named Curran, who was dating a young woman who Lily had considered her best friend. Sastre had forbidden Curran from mentioning their meeting, and from telling his girlfriend Elle that she was alive... in a manner of speaking.
Lily was dead, for all intents and purposes. She was Sastre Quicksilver now.
As the night began to deepen around her, Sastre continued down the street, small groups of people meandering about from place to place, and the sounds and smells of a dozen bars, restaurants, and diners flooding the hunter's senses. Finally, she found the place she'd been looking for: a small, dingy, mostly-empty diner sitting on a corner between two abandoned storefronts. Frowning and looking around, Sastre realized that this place was right on the edge of the "good" part of town, and that if the economy continued to worsen, it would soon be swallowed by the encroaching, rough and tumble neighborhood that was little better than a ghetto.
Crossing the street, Sastre slid silently into the diner, moving to a table in the far corner and taking a seat, setting her ever-present satchel down on the seat beside her. Her eyes scanned the place, taking in the small handful of customers who were already eating their late dinner, and pausing to study the young waitress that came clattering through the door to the kitchen.
It was her.
Elle.
Taking a deep breath, Sastre ran through one of the mental calming exercises that Florian had taught her, readying herself for this reunion. Months ago, she'd had no intention of returning to any part of her old life, but a lot had happened since then, and now that she was back, Sastre couldn't very well continue on letting Elle think she was dead. She just couldn't do that, not to her friend. So, knowing that this was the tail-end of the younger blond's shift, Sastre had come to see her, hoping that Elle would understand what had happened...
And hoping that she'd know how to explain in the first place...
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Post by Elle Nora Taylor on Aug 29, 2011 8:54:15 GMT -5
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Her shift at the diner today had been like all the others. Elle’s boss never failed to act the monster she was sure he would one day turn out to be. His insults and acerbic laughter, the bulging veins in his forehead and neck and the distended stomach which he rubbed more than his ass and his privates were just a few hints at the sort of ogre he was bound to reveal himself as sooner or later.
Of course this wasn’t even touching on the fact he was the worst kind of slave driver. The kind that barked orders as if she were a dog one minute and then copped a feel of her bottom the next. Just the smell of his rancid breath on her neck when he glanced over her shoulder at the cash register was enough to make her want to vomit and then flee.
But flee she did not.
Elle Taylor had once fancied herself the type of young woman that would run at any sort of difficulty. She had run from the death of her mother and father; from the misery their loss had caused, from the town and so-called friends she had called home for most of her short life. The waitress had even run from the idea of ever falling in love. What good was it to believe in something that always ended up a lie or a fairy tale? She figured she would always be that kind of person; afraid and alone, destined to die an old maid with 90 cats because she’d never trust another soul again.
That is until she had met the people that would teach her exactly what kind of fairy tale life could truly be. There were so very many of them.
Curran, the young man… wolf , that had opened her heart and shown her a freedom she had never known. Brennan, a kind and gentle soul that gave without expectations. And then there was Lily…
Lily…a woman that had taught her about all the strange and wonderful things that she’d never believed existed beyond the silver screen or the books she had read as a child. The things that Lily had spoken of had been sometimes terrifying and other times mesmerizing. The huntress had taught her to be proud and brave and to never give up.
God, she missed Lily so much.
Never give up was the reason why even when Curran had offered her a position at his mother’s shop she had refused the proposal. She was not running away anymore, not from her horrible employer, the rude customers, nor the grease stinking café.
Near the end of her shift Elle greeted a group of customers with a warm smile and searched absently in her red and wide checkered apron for the pen to write down their orders. She had started with three but lost one to a snarky business man, given her pretty hot pink gel one to a doe-eyed little girl, and now had seemingly lost her last one.
A light giggle was loosed from her lips when Elle remembered the last place she had stuck it, and reached up to retrieve the writing utensil from her loosely coiled bun.
A grin remained on her face as she began to take down the orders from the four seated in before her, but her gaze drifted away from them…as if drawn elsewhere by an invisible lure.
When her stare landed on an ostensibly familiar face a few booths down at first the ringlet haired waitress thought it a trick of the light. Some kind of prank her mind was playing on her.
The woman was blonde with loose waves, not the cropped brown bob Lily had worn. Her clothes were different too...plus…plus Lily was gone. There was no coming back from dead unless you were a zombie or a demon. Lily had taught her that.
But the eyes…God, the eyes were the same. They even held that faraway sorrow that Elle remembered so well.
“I’m sorry…just a minute.” Elle offered an apologetic smile when she interrupted the customer’s request and found herself drifting toward that unsettling woman. Perhaps she was some sort of long-lost kin to her lost friend. If that was the case Elle felt compelled to meet her.
“I…hate to bother you Miss but…”The waitress began as she approached the familiar face. And then she could say no more. It wasn’t merely the eyes that gave Lily away, but the very details of a face that Elle had mourned, the way she held herself, (though there was a slight restraint that hadn’t been there before), the almost smile that was perched on her lips.
“This…can’t be right…” Elle didn’t realize the words had left her lips and her head was shaking along with her pale hands. “I…saw you buried…”
The woman hadn’t a chance to explain or negate the accusation before Elle plopped into the seat across from her. “I think I’m hyperventilating.” The ringlet-haired blonde waved her hand across her face like she had the vapors, wide cerulean eyes caught on the familiar visage in front of her. “I can’t breathe. Oh…the room is spinning…I’m going to pass out any minute.”
She wasn’t really going to pass out. It was just regular ole’ Elle. Dramatics, as usual.
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Post by Sastre Quicksilver on Sept 6, 2011 10:51:44 GMT -5
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This mask of glass is what I choose to wear
So I won't ever have the need to bear
The total truth to anyone but me... |
If Sastre hadn't known Elle so well, she might have been worried.
Instead, though, she sat silently watching her, a detached, indifferent expression on her face. This was really one of the hardest things for her, showing emotion and concern for those who had been her friends once. After so many months of training to remove such things from her life, it seemed impossible now to throw herself back into the thick of things. But this was the choice she'd made: she'd could have simply hit the road and went on with her new life as Sastre Quicksilver, but she knew now that she wasn't strong enough for that.
She wasn't strong enough to just drop everything and cut ties with all she'd known.
"Hello, Elle," she said softly, her expression still carefully neutral. "It's been a long time. I..." She hesitated a moment, uncertainty flickering across her features. How did one apologize for making her loved ones believe she was dead? And beyond that, for allowing them to continue thinking she was dead, when she could have come back sooner...
Running through another calming mental mantra, Sastre pressed on, meeting Elle's eyes.
"I'm sorry. For all of this. For lying to you, and for putting you through this."
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Post by Elle Nora Taylor on Sept 23, 2011 10:35:25 GMT -5
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After the initial dramatics passed, Elle slumped forward in her seat, her wide sapphire stare taking in every detail of the woman in front of her. She didn’t fail to notice the careful control on her long lost friends’ visage, nor the way her hand tightened just barely as it rested on the tabletop. It seemed the young woman was mentally preparing herself for a lengthy explanation, and the blonde waitress suddenly felt ill. There was no way Lily would have purposely deceived her. No. her friend would never do that.
Elle’s mind wandered into a thousand different directions; forming her own opinion of what had happened to Lily, where she had been all this time, why she hadn’t gotten word to her loved ones that she was still alive. Or…
Of course now the lithe young woman knew of things she hadn’t known about in the past. Maybe Lily really had been dead. She was now sitting across from someone who’d been brought back from death’s cold grip.
There was a reasonable explanation for this, no matter how unbelievable…
And then the huntress said the one word that Elle had hoped not to hear.
Lie. She had lied.
Tilting her head absently to the side Elle blinked back unbidden moisture in her eyes, her peaches and cream hand reached out for Lily’s; holding it as if she feared letting go would mean loosing the woman again.
“Why…Lily?” The words sounded far-away and unfamiliar. Her voice was trembling.
“Where have you been? What happened? Why…why didn’t you let me know you were okay?””
Elle squeezed the appendage under her palm and creased her brow. “Are you okay?”
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Post by Sastre Quicksilver on Sept 24, 2011 17:14:27 GMT -5
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This mask of glass is what I choose to wear
So I won't ever have the need to bear
The total truth to anyone but me... |
When Elle clutched tightly to her hand, Sastre went rigid.
Closing her eyes, the hunter ran through one of her mental calming exercises, trying to keep her cool. Try as she might, though, all she could think about was the feeling of Elle's hands on her own, the sensation of another person's flesh pressed against her own, the girl's palms warm and a bit sweaty. Swallowing hard, Sastre tried another technique, this one having been more successful in the past, though it tended to make her seem even more withdrawn and detached.
Finally she opened her eyes, her expression cool and hard, her eyes seemingly empty of any and all emotion. Now, though, she didn't really know what she was going to say to her old friend. How could she explain everything that had happened? Would she even be able to? She'd nearly broken down in front of Brennan when she'd explained things to her wife, and that had been in private, just between the two of them. Here, in this public place, Sastre knew she couldn't afford to lose her hard-won control...
But she owed Elle something...
"Elle," she began, her voice low and flat. "A lot happened, while I was gone. Some of it I can try and explain to you, but some of it I can't. But I do owe you an explanation, for why I never contacted you, why everything happened the way it did..." Finally unable to stand it any longer, Sastre gently pulled her hand out of Elle's, laying it in her lap with her other hand.
"There was a vampire who was an old enemy of my father's, and he kidnapped me in hopes of using me as a bargaining chip in their decades-old conflict. I was sent away and held captive by a group of men... mercenaries." She paused as her stomach twisted, and she was forced to fight down a wave of nausea. That, apparently, would be all she could say on the subject.
"Eventually, after a couple of months in captivity, my father was able to find me and rescue me, but... I was hurt, Elle. Badly. And we didn't think I was going to make it. He took me to someone he knew, and old Navajo medicine woman, who managed to heal me and save my life. After that, we thought it was best that the vampire behind all of this thought me dead, so that he would leave us in peace for a while to train and get stronger."
It was the truth, for the most part, and though it might not have been the total truth, Sastre thought it was enough to assuage Elle's concern. Now came the hard part though, and she locked eyes with Elle before speaking again.
"You need to understand something, Elle: I am not Lily Faraday-Brennan any more. She is dead, for all intents and purposes. From now on, my name is Sastre Quicksilver, and it is very important you remember that, alright?" Holding her hand out to stop the young waitress before she could ask anything, Sastre continued.
"I know you have questions about this, but I swear to you that I can't tell you. Just be glad that I'm here now, and that I'm alright."
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Post by Elle Nora Taylor on Oct 13, 2011 12:57:44 GMT -5
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Elle wasn’t sure what to expect to hear from Lily as to why she had faked her death.
Several scenarios drifted in and out of the young woman’s mind, including a silly school girl worry that it had simply been the huntress didn’t want to be friends any more.
She prepared herself by steeling her back against the booth back; her free hand tugging nervously on a ringlet before twisting it completely around the digit.
She could feel the woman across from her tense at the weight of her palm across the hand folded on the table, and winced slightly when Lily finally pulled it free and tucked it in her lap. Elle frowned faintly. She had forgotten that the huntress had never really been one for displays of affection, but the young woman couldn’t help but feel slighted that Lily couldn’t make an exception for her just this one time. For her own sense of security.
Never-the-less Elle clasped her shaking hands before her and listened intently to the explanation laid out before her; sometimes gasping in horror and sometimes covering her mouth in shock as the woman confessed the terrifying abduction.
The waif blond felt guilty for being angry at the woman, however ephemeral it might have been, and found that she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Lily’s…Sastre’s shoulders in a never-ending embrace.
Chewing on her lower lip apprehensively Elle wiped a tear that had rolled down her cheek from her chin where it clung, then rubbed at her suddenly snot-filled nose. She was a dribbling crybaby. Had never said otherwise!
Finally, when the huntress’ eyes softened and she held out a hand to Elle the young woman released a broken sob and the tears sprang anew in her crystalline eyes.
Nodding her head in understand she squeezed the hand and sniffed loudly, trying so hard not to let the moisture leak from her nose.
“I’m so sorry…” She finally said in a broken voice, wrapping her other hand around Sastre’s too. “I…I…had no idea.”
Truth be told she had found out a lot about the supernatural since meeting the huntress, Sassy’s witchy mate, and her own furry boyfriend, but there were still so many things that the trusting young woman was naive about.
“Can I…call you Sassy?” Elle smiled, and the beam was filled with happiness and relief. She had her friend back and yes, that was all that mattered now.
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Post by Sastre Quicksilver on Oct 20, 2011 11:43:21 GMT -5
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This mask of glass is what I choose to wear
So I won't ever have the need to bear
The total truth to anyone but me... |
Sastre couldn’t help but smile a bit, though it was a ghost of the expression she used to show.
Elle had always been able to make her smile, to bring her out of her oh-so-serious moods, and to generally make her feel better. There was something so charmingly innocent about her that Lily had always found endearing, and even now as Sastre she still admired that same trait in her friend. The young waitress’ grief-stricken, forlorn expression tugged at Sastre’s heartstrings in a way that she’d not so long ago told herself nothing would again. Of course, that had been before her return… Before learning that Brennan still wanted her and loved her… Before finding out that her daughter was still alive…
Smiling just a fraction more, Sastre gave Elle’s hands a light squeeze before pulling her own away gently. Physical contact was still difficult for her, though she’d gotten a lot better, mostly thanks to Allison’s presence in her life. Things were even getting better between her and Brennan, though she still wasn’t ready for anything more intimate than the occasional embrace, or a soft, chaste kiss.
But, progress was progress, and Sastre felt better for it.
“You can call me ‘Sassy’ Elle,” she told her friend, showing a smile that was the closest to her old one yet. “God, we have so much to talk about… Can we go, or are you still on the clock?”
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